O my soul,
Are you weary? So very weary? So weary in fact that you wonder whether you can carry on at all, even not quite knowing what that would mean?
But what is it that we are commanded to do?
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
― Romans 12:12
Be patient in tribulation. And go on being patient. And on. And on. Being patient. In tribulation.
But when will it all end? Will it ever end? How can you continue to endure this, O my soul? Isn’t the prolonged nature of it all simply wearing you down?
Have you made Job’s heart-cry your very own?
But I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for.
― Job 6:11 NLT
Will it ever end? What is there to live for? Does anything even matter any more?
O my Soul, listen to Jesus.
By your endurance you will gain your lives.
― Luke 21:19
Jesus is speaking of the great tribulation, but it makes no difference. By your endurance you will gain your life, O my soul. Your endurance matters then, O how it matters! Your life depends upon it. But what is it exactly? What is this endurance by which you will gain your life, beyond simply managing to exist through the trial? What indeed? And where will this endurance come from, that you may live?
Let’s first consider the why, and through that understand the what and the how.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
― Hebrews 10:36
O my soul, do you want to receive what is promised? Do you want to receive what has been promised from the one whose name is Faithful and True? Then you have need of endurance!
This endurance is what will enable you to do the will of God, and to keep on doing it. So now we must ask, what is the will of God here?
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
― John 6:28-29
So this is it. This is what it means to endure. Believe in Jesus, the one whom the Lord has sent! Above all else this means trust him. Trust him, absolutely and completely, and depend upon him, and on him alone.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
― Proverbs 3:5-6
My own understanding is quite simply not up to the task. This is entirely beyond me. O my soul, at that point beyond which you cannot understand what or why or how, you must surrender your need to understand, and simply trust the one who does⸺the one whose name is Faithful and True. Trust Jesus! And depend on him!
Be mindful that straight does not mean easy, but it does mean that there is a way. There is a way ahead, and by taking one step after another on this straight path, trusting and not doubting, you can continue. You can continue, O my soul, so do that!
And as you resolve to continue to take this path ahead, wondering whether you have the strength even for that, you must understand where strength comes from. It comes from hope. Hold on to hope. The one who promised is Faithful and True. Rejoice in that hope!
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
― Romans 12:12
Strength comes from hope. It comes from trust.
Those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
― Isaiah 40:31 NLT
O my Soul, I’ll come back to soaring on wings like an eagle, as that may be inconceivable for now. But know this. The word used for trust is the Hebrew qâvâh, which could be translated wait for, or hope in, or expect. Yes, more waiting. More waiting, O my soul, but waiting in hope. And rejoicing in that hope. Paul and Isaiah are perfectly aligned.
Rejoice in hope. Trust in and depend on Jesus, that he may be the one to lift you up. Oh, and be constant in prayer.
Trust in the Lord, O my soul, and find there new strength to carry on! 🙏