Remain Firm!

Much of life is a test of endurance. And to do that we need patience to pass through the difficult patches we encounter. How lovely it would be just to sail through life without problems!! That is what most people want. But an easy path does not make for godly character. To endure means: to harden: to remain firm under: to bear without sinking: to tolerate: to last.
Children always want things now! They have to learn the art of waiting. No one is born with patience, it has to be developed, and it is not easy.
When you read about the life of the early apostles you see that they encountered many hardships but were able to testify that God brought them through it all. Christians seem to want all the miracles, signs, wonders, blessings, without the work of the cross in their lives, without them having to work out their own salvation Phillip 2:12. Just because we read it in the Bible it does not mean that we can do what they did! The life of Christ has to be manifest in us before it works through us. We are not Jesus, or Paul, but we are becoming like them through a process of endurance.
Sometimes God does a miracle to proclaim His name and power. But often we have to pray through our situations, and difficulties, and pray through, and keep praying through!! Our flesh wants to 'enjoy' but God is calling us to 'endure'. As we pray through, we are changed. God works a miracle of grace in us that could not be achieved in any other way. Remember! He is making us like Him! So be encouraged, you will not always pass through this night, the morning will come. The answer will come, deliverance will be yours, just make up your mind to patiently endure until that happens.
'Behold we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen what God finally brought about; the Lord is full of compassion, and tender mercy'. James 5:11