Endurance

“Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 NIV

To endure is to experience suffering,

and in that suffering, to deny oneself the right to succumb.

To instead press into the pain,

turning away from the mercy that would be abandonment.

To withstand even knowing the cost,

while in the tempest of the cost.

To reach the end of yourself, and after all of that,

to endure.

At that end you will find your strength,

for while you endured you also persisted,

and as you persisted, you also hardened.

For unlike the rock that is weathered into brokenness,

You were only refined, purified,

your weakest parts burned away amidst the trials,

but now reinforced by steely endurance.

By faith alone can you endure,

and it is through endurance that your faith is grown.

For at that end, when you find your strength,

you will also find the truth,

your strength is not your own.

In it whispers its origin,

a divine impartation,

a heavenly gift,

a kingly inheritance.

With love,

Your Father