The Heavenly Strength Of Patient Endurance

“What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”.
Mark 15:14

It’s nice to get more than you deserve. But for all the good Jesus did, he received a cross.

Servanthood is often like that. In exchange for selflessness and sacrifice, you may receive misunderstanding, jeers, persecution, hatred, perhaps even death.

Abraham Kuyper offers this insight into Christ’s greatest act of service for sinful humanity.

WALK WITH ABRAHAM KUYPER
“That heavenly strength which overcame every effort to thrust the Holy One out of the world is endurance.

“This patience is displayed in Jesus’ spiritual struggles against Satan. First in the wilderness, then in Pilate’s judgment hall, and finally upon the cross, he was steadfast. He endured.

“Satan left nothing untried in his efforts to destroy that glorious, holy, divine life. But the holiness of Jesus was neither marred nor even slightly soiled.

“The full glory of Jesus’ endurance is revealed when, on the third morning, he arises from the grave. He endured that last enemy and overcame it—death!

“There is nothing more that Satan can do now against the Christ. And it is Christ who works that same strength in those who are his.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Heat and pressure have a way of revealing and proving the quality of a product.

In the same way, the truest test of commitment comes not on the days when everything goes well but on the days when everything goes wrong—when you are misunderstood, ill-treated, wrongly accused.

But the strength that enabled Jesus to endure is available for you as you follow daily in his steps. Draw on it.

And don’t be surprised if you prove to be just as durable.