Many people fail at their goals because they can’t seem to stick to them. We must keep at it, even when life takes sudden and uncertain twists and turns. It has been said, “If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.” The Greek term for perseverance is hupomone. Hupomone not only means to remain steadfast or to act with tenacity, but importantly, it means to thrive under pressure. In fact, the Greek hupomone translates literally as “to remain under misfortune and trials.”[i] This term speaks to the struggle of achievement, a struggle that encounters great hardship, problems, resistance, or some sort of severe adversity and requires more than impulse to attain. Some challenges are learning curves and outright personal weaknesses. Others may be adversarial scrutiny.
The painful fact is that some people don’t want us to succeed and will do what they can to try to prohibit our achievement. I have been there! However, John MacArthur notes that Christian perseverance in the Greek sense of the word is not a passive acceptance of any of the pressures under which we find ourselves. It is victorious, triumphant survival as a result of unswerving faithfulness to the Lord, even in the middle of struggles.[ii] Scripture teaches “that the testing of [our] faith produces perseverance” (James 1:3 NIV).
I have found the old saying to be true: “If God allows us to go through it, He will help us to get out of it.” Its like a terrible storm. Depending on how severe the storm is; sometimes a storm seems to never end. We must remember that God is not only the God of the calm but also God is more powerful than the worst storm. Relating storms to life, the challenges that we experience are only temporary. If we depend on Jesus, He will help us to reach our goals.
Moreover, success is birthed out of a bit more than insistent tenacity and loyalty to God. It is the product of continued submission to God throughout the entire journey. When God is on our side, we need to listen to Him. We will get there if we relentlessly follow His leading. In other words, we must put forth effort to praise God through the storm.
Andrea Crouch wrote the song, “Through it All.” In closing, the third verse and chorus to Crouch’s song speaks encouragement on the issue of “Stick-to-itiveness.”
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I\’d never had a problem,
I wouldn\’t know God could solve them,
I\’d never know what faith in God could do.Through it all,
through it all,
I\’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I\’ve learned to trust in God.Through it all,
through it all,
I\’ve learned to depend upon His Word.
Stick with your dreams and praise the Lord through the storms. You may be going through; but keep it moving; you are going to come out!
[i]. See Joseph Henry Thayer, The New Thayer’s Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1981), 664.
[ii]. John MacArthur, Preaching: How to Preach Biblically (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 72.
