Keep your mind on Jesus [and]… you won’t get discouraged and give up (Hebrews 12:3< CEV)
It’s difficult to endure hardship at the best of times, but when you don’t know why, it can be frustrating. God doesn’t give us lengthy explanations on how He works; He’s used to creating worlds with a single sentence. So when you don’t find an immediate answer in His Word or through prayer or the counsel of others, you’re left wondering. And you wouldn’t be the first. David repeatedly asks why in the Psalms, and God still called him “a man after My own heart, who will do all My will” (Acts 13:22 NKJV). So don’t get discouraged. Bible commentator William Barclay pointed out that endurance isn’t just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to use it for your growth and God’s glory.
When the answers aren’t forthcoming the question then becomes, “How do I get through this?” And the Bible addresses it by telling us Jesus endured “the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew… later on he would be glad” (Hebrews 12:2 CEV). Then it goes on to say: “Keep your mind on Jesus… you won’t get discouraged and give up” (Hebrews 12:3 CEV). The reason Jesus endured was because He was able to look ahead and envision the joy of pleasing His Father, building the church and saving a lost world.
The Psalmist said, “I have set the Lord always before me… he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved [discouraged, or thrown by the situation]” (Psalm 16:8 NKJV). Staying-power is not denying reality, or ‘white-knuckling’ it. It’s keeping your eyes on Jesus and drawing from Him the strength you need to fight your way through to victory!
