Endurance Is Faith Over Time

The useful part

Greear jdgreear.com SHARE How many times do you think Joshua's men wanted to quit walking around the walls of Jericho? How did they keep going when the walls looked exactly the same halfway through the sixth lap on the seventh day as they did when they started? How do we keep following Jesus when everything in our life remains exactly the same—or even gets worse—day after day?

How it works

• I'm an incrementalist, which means I don't mind working hard, but I want to see progress over time.
• (Incredible book, by the way!) I quickly realized that the worst part of being on a rowing team would be not knowing how close the finish line was.
• See, on a rowing team, the coxswain is the only one who can actually see how near the end is.
• Then he'd say, "Just 15 more seconds!" Apparently, it worked, because they won the gold.
• Did you show everyone how brave you were and use your fancy new sword?" To which these guys had to sheepishly respond, "Well, actually...

What to take from it

Just because your progress isn't obvious doesn't mean your faith's not working. Sometimes, God lets us walk around and around without seeing results because he wants our faith to be less focused on an outcome and more focused on obedience. I've learned to thank God for the laps, because the long, lonely laps of "unfulfilled" promise are where God puts the Promised Land into me.

Example or evidence

• They were being reminded that it was God's strength alone that could do this, not theirs.
• Greear Articles Trending 4 Rhythms That Quiet the Soul in a Noisy World.
• He would say things like, "OK boys, just 15 more seconds, and we'll be across the finish line.
• That rowing team had a lot in common with Israel as they marched around Jericho.

Details worth keeping

I learned this about myself when I read The Boys in the Boat, about a U.S. rowing team in the 1930s that won the Olympics. Everyone else is straining and pulling, looking backwards the entire time.

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