Perseverance: The Road Less Traveled
We live in a digital world, where everything can be done at our finger tips instantly. With that has come a desire for instant gratification. Think about what is available in our daily lives that allow for immediate results. If you have a question you can instantly search Google or ask Alexa and get an answer within seconds. Instant gratification is the need to experience fulfillment without any sort of delay or wait. Waiting four days for a delivery seems like an eternity in today’s society.
I was thinking about this as I followed the progress of my oldest son as he ran a 100 mile race this past weekend. To complete that race, it obviously consisted of many 
enduring traits, but one that stands out goes against our instant gratification and that is PERSEVERANCE.
Perseverance is said to be the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. For many people the hardest decision in life is deciding whether to “walk away” or “keep going.” Perseverance means more than endurance— more than simply holding on until the end. There is no doubt that in life, all of life, perseverance is essential. It allows us to consistently pursue a goal or unwaveringly live out our convictions and what is important to us, regardless of obstacles or difficulties. That is especially true when it comes to marriage in a culture that is looking for instant gratification through relationships as well.
After the 100 miles, Matt said he began to feel blisters on his feet around the 50-mile mark and then had to deal with intense pain the last several miles. That’s perseverance. To keep going knowing it is not going to get any easier simply because of his desire to want to accomplish something that he made a commitment to.
To persevere means that we will continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success. It can represent an action of experiencing victory in the perseverance of our unceasing efforts no matter what the odds or actual outcome will be.
No doubt about it, marriage can be difficult and demanding therefore we should focus on what is important to us and especially to our Lord. God actually wants us persevere even through the heartaches and challenges of marriage, as well as the good times. He knows it creates in us better people, and it makes us stronger marriage partners, and it gives us the faith we need to lead our marriage under the convictions of Gods design of the covenant relationship.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2-5)
The marriage relationship is a covenant unlike all other relationships. It is a union that was designed to strengthen the capability of each partner to carry out the plan of God in their lives. That’s why your marriage matters! That’s why it is worth the time, effort as well as the hurt and pain to seek what’s best for your marriage. We must not lose sight of that truth because it reveals that the marriage covenant comes directly from God Himself. He sanctioned it and He can sustain it if you allow Him to. Marriage was created to be the most rewarding of all human relationships and it can transform you if you understand and stand on the promise of God and His covenant.
The more we persevere in the Christian life, the more God grants His blessings upon us, thereby enabling us to continue to persevere.
“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:36
For a more in-depth study on the purpose perseverance, read these Bible verses:
Romans 5:3-4
2 Timothy 4:7-8
Hebrews 10:32-36
Hebrews 12:1-3
James 1:2-4
1 Corinthians 13:7,8
