GRACE TO ENDURE

Mark 10:34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again

Sometimes, God does not reveal all the intricacies of our life’s journey to us because knowing us, we would rather forfeit the glorious end if we became aware of all the steps in between. If we had a clear blue print like Jesus did: ‘mockery, being spat at, flogging, and death, all preceding a rising from the dead, we would have echoed His prayer even louder ‘let this cup pass me by’. Even further, we would have run the other way like Jonah did when he was charged to goto Nineveh.

There is no however no workaround. Hebrews 2:2 affirms this: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him ENDURED the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” To endure means to choose to hold unto despite having valid reasons not to. Between the present location and rising from the dead, there was “mockery, spitting, flogging, and death.” That was the only route available.

We want the glory, but we don’t want the scars,
We want the rising, but won’t embrace the stretching,
We want the results, but we don’t want to pay the price for it;
We rather want everything at a discount.

There are moments when your destiny will call for nothing but endurance: perhaps, less sleep for a while, longer study momentarily, tarrying in prayer and the Word just a while longer. When you arrive in those moments of your life, I pray you receive strength to endure.

#sly