Endurance

It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7)

Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:7 NRSV)

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (James 1:2-3)

Maybe I am just too logically oriented, but my mind insists on trying to make sense out of this. I went and looked up a number of translations of Hebrews 12:7 and found that about half of them seem to focus on the discipline and the others seem to focus on endurance. I suppose at this point that I might be splitting hairs.

But what I do find interesting is that just a page or two farther in the Bible I find the above verse in James that seems to reverse the order quite distinctly. The verse in Hebrews equates discipline with trials, at least by implication, and says that we need endurance to face these trials of discipline. Then I find James saying that the trials themselves are what is needed to produce endurance.

I realize that these are not necessarily in conflict but are more likely to be complimentary to each other. It is rather like muscle training in the physical body. If a person decides they need to get serious about developing their flabby body they will need to start an exercise program of some sort. But very quickly they will find that they do not have much endurance and strength to do very much in their weak condition.

It is at that point that they are faced with a decision that may be a conflict between their emotional feelings and their intellectual desires. They intelligently want to be in better shape physically and want to move forward with their training program. At the same time their emotions are reacting to the intense soreness and pain from the unaccustomed use of muscles and the tendency is to back off and reconsider the whole idea. Those emotions can become very intense depending on the strength of the opposite motivations they have for continuing.

In this analogy, the trials and discipline are the exercises that are needed to develop strength. There is simply no other alternative to build muscles and tone them up into a healthier state than to use them regularly and intentionally. But what is also needed is endurance which is common knowledge in the exercise world. Endurance is really made up of at least two things as I think about it carefully.

Endurance is a measure of the ability of my muscles to continue doing something, especially when the onset of feelings of tiredness sets in. But it also involves the mind and its determination and willingness to keep exercising when other emotions and physical feelings are suggesting that I should give up and quit and forget this whole exercise idea. It involves the classic symptom of our desire for pain avoidance without enough consideration for anything else. That is when I need other, more compelling reasons besides my desire for comfort to keep me going so that I can become stronger. These are the elements that make up endurance.

Endurance is a very important ingredient that must be cultivated in tandem with strength if we are to succeed in a muscle-training program, whether it be physical or spiritual. And it looks to me like endurance is a multi-faceted thing involving not only the ability of the muscles but the condition of the will. If one part becomes too dominant over the other there may be problems to follow. If the muscles have the abilities to perform far beyond the desire of the will to push them, then the training will not accomplish what it should. Or if the will is not determined and insistent in the face of discomfort and pain then very little, if any progress will be accomplished.

On the other side, if the will is very strong but the muscles are not yet developed enough, and then if the willpower is used to push the muscles beyond what is safe for them at that point of development damage will likely occur and we will find ourselves in worse shape than before we started. The will-half of endurance must be in sync with the physical ability-half of endurance to accomplish real progress.

Now that I have unpacked the physical side of this equation to some extent, what can I learn from these verses and this analogy about discipline and endurance and my own relationship to this activity in my spiritual life?

What I seem to see emerging here is that events and circumstances that make me uncomfortable in life may quite likely be viewed by God as part of His plan for my strength and endurance training. But being a perfect Trainer He is not going to push me beyond my present abilities and cause undo damage in my life even though it may feel that way from the pain I am experiencing during the circumstance.

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NRSV)

But like any good training program, if the person being trained is not willing to engage their own will in cooperation with the program outlined by the trainer because of overwhelming fear of pain or maybe a distrust of the ability or motives of the trainer, then the goal of a healthier, stronger body with much more ability and endurance will never be accomplished. My own will has to be on board and synchronized with the will of the Trainer if my endurance is to keep me in the process.

As I have been learning more about the Theophostic process, which I believe is very inspired and in line with God's ways of healing and restoring us, I see the parallels quite easily here. God allows things to trigger me and I usually see these experiences as “trials” that threaten my well-being and disrupt my peace. But each time this happens I have a choice whether to view this event as something to be avoided, maneuvered away from or suppressed through denial or hypocrisy, or I can view it as an opportunity to take ownership of the “stuff” inside of me that is being triggered and honestly acknowledge it before God and ask for His truth to displace the deep, inner beliefs that are being exposed. I can either blame other people or circumstances to avoid facing the roots of my triggering or I can ask God to show me where the roots are that contain the false beliefs that provide the ammunition activating that trigger.

It is precisely during these moments when this whole business about trials, discipline and endurance come into play. If I am willing to stay in the process that God is taking me through and face the pain, or whatever other emotions come to the surface instead of avoiding them through denial or blame, I will begin to increase my level of endurance, both on the will-side of it and in the ability-side. Over time I will actually be more and more willing to view these events with the “joy” that James says I am to face them with instead of the fear and apprehension that I usually associate with them. If I see these experiences as evidence of God's work in my life and indicators that He is treating me as a real child, then I can have more reason to increase my willingness to endure and both my strength capacity and my endurance will increase.

If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. (Hebrews 12:8 NRSV)

Another method of encouragement to stay “in the process” is the realization that this is not something abnormal or “bad” happening in my life but is something that anyone around me who is a real child of God and under His influence is also experiencing. I will not only be able to take courage from seeing others through this paradigm but I will be able to offer encouragement and perspective at times when they may need a stabilizing word of hope or a reminder of God's faithfulness.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 NRSV)

Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36 NRSV)

And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:4 NRSV)

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