Are You Willing To Endure?

Well, the weather we all said we were waiting for so we could get something done around the house has finally arrived and I’ll bet you still aren’t outside working, are you. We tend to blame it on the weather when in reality we simply can’t find a way to schedule a block of time to do what has to get done. It’s funny, I can always find time to do for others while my wife questions when I’m going to get to her job list. Another check mark goes in the positive column for our recent adoption of our dog. She reminds me every day she has to have my undivided attention for play time with her only. That has made me sit back and measure my devotions of time to what I do every day. I’m slowly coming around to the fact that it’s time for someone else to start moving in as I ease into a little more comfortable lifestyle. More time at home doing some things I need to get done. I’m not winding down, just realigning my priorities.
A man arrives home from work one day and knew something was wrong the minute he walked in the door. The familiar aromas of a cooking diner were not filling the house. He could hear his two older children fussing with each other at the top of their lungs and his three-year-old was sitting on the floor crying with big crocodile tears running down her dirty face. The dog was licking what looked like something sticky off her hands. As he headed for the kitchen, he passed by the laundry room where he saw mounds of dirty close piled next to the washing machine. Totally puzzled at what he has encountered it only got worse with the dishes piled in the sink and some still resting on the table. Panic set in with the thought, something is terribly wrong here, as he was rushing to the bedroom in search of his wife. She has always been a devoted wife, mother and housekeeper. He had never seen the house in this sort of disarray before. As he opened the bedroom door he was shocked to see his wife still in her night clothes, lying on the bed, surrounded by snack foods and drinks, watching television. “Honey! What in the world is going on?” he asked. “Are you ill? Has something bad happened I should know about? How can I help?” Turning away from the television for a second she said, “Nothing’s wrong. I just didn’t feel like doing it all today.”

[Hebrews 12:2] It’s hard to endure! Think of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 voyage to the Antarctic. He was only one day’s sail away from the continent when his ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice. For ten months the ship was crushed and destroyed by ice pressure. This forced the crew to abandon ship and camp on the ice for five months. To save his men, Shackleton made two open boat journeys. One of these was a treacherous 800 mile ocean crossing to South Georgia Island, a feat which is considered one of the greatest boat journeys in history. Trekking across the mountains of South Georgia, he reached the island’s remote whaling station, organized a rescue team, and saved the men he had left behind. Talk about a willingness to endure! The apostle Paul, centuries before, displayed the same spirit. He tells the brethren in Corinth, “…we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:12). The most notable example, of course, is Christ. He endured. That was the great achievement of Jesus. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It can be your joy also.