READ: James 5:11 NLT
'We give great honour to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.'
We don’t know exactly what James’ readers were facing but clearly it was tough to be a Christian. They needed to persevere. Amidst all the temptations, distractions and persecution that they were facing they needed to hang in there for God.
Job is a classic illustration of this. Everything went catastrophically wrong for him. He lost his children, his possessions, and his health. He had the indignity of being struck with boils and his wife, seeing him sitting in the dust, scratching at his sores, exclaimed, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die” (2:9). But he didn’t. He put up not only with his suffering but also with his hopeless companions whose misguided thinking added another crushing layer to his agonies. However, he didn’t give up. He was confident of God and, in the end, God rewarded him generously.
There are many times in life when God calls us simply to endure. We would love him to fix our situation, and remove all our problems. But he often calls on us to endure and promises to accompany us and strengthen us as we do so. William Carey was the father of the modern missionary movement and he went to India in 1793. During his time there he faced a succession of problems and set backs – but he kept going. He once said to his nephew, “If after my removal any one should think it worth his while to write my life, I will give you a criterion by which you may judge its correctness. If he gives me credit for being a plodder, he will describe me justly. Anything beyond this will be too much. I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.”
Whatever you are facing today, God encourages you to keep plodding on.
QUESTION: What have you learnt from those tough situations which you have had to endure?
PRAYER: Thank you Lord that you will never leave or forsake me. Thank you that I can be sure that you will be right beside me whatever I have to face. Amen.

Released on 19 Nov 2020