There’s nothing more annoying to me than to hear the words “keep going” when I’m tired or am ready to give up. For example, when I’m exercising and the exercise is demanding and it seems the instructor is prolonging the exercise and by extension my pain or discomfort, all I want to do in that moment is to give up but instead I hear “keep going, you’re almost there”. The encouragement annoys me because I understand I have to “suffer” longer, instead of being relieved from my pain or discomfort; the encouragement tells me to keep “suffering”, although it is for my good. In these moments, I fail to look at the end goal which is often long-term. Indeed, giving in to the pain and stopping to press on means, I will not see results on my body. This example is with exercising, but it can be applied in all areas of life where progress is needed. How you respond to suffering will have an impact on the results you want to see. This is also true in our walk with the Lord. I have come to realize that when I focus on my pain or the difficulty I am in, no words of encouragement sit in. it’s as though, I am deliberately setting aside the word of God to focus only on the circumstance and sadly, that does not lead to great results. What’s worse is that I am not alone in this. Often times, we hear the words, “persevere”, “press on”, “wait on the Lord”, “be steadfast”, etc. and we stop paying attention because they do not offer the immediate relief we crave. We fail to embrace the encouragement and comfort the Lord brings to us in His word and instead choose to dwell on our misery. This is not an attitude that existed in the life of Paul. During his ministry, as painful as it was, he never focused on his suffering, he never gave up his call but kept pressing on. Today, I want to encourage us to keep pressing on as well, irrespective of our situations.
I was once told by a mother that during labour, one clear sign a woman is ready to push the baby out, is when she feels like she can’t take the pain anymore. Indeed, the hours leading to the delivery are the most painful and difficult yet they are also an indication that the baby is ready. At that moment, she needs to muster all the last energy she has to push a human out. I find it fascinating and I believe this is a lesson for all of us to learn as we seek to live a life of steadfastness in our walk with the Lord. Truly, it seems our Christian journey is not one that can be traveled speedily, or quickly or in a hurry rather, It is a slow-paced walk we need to learn to embrace. There is something powerful about slowing down, you get to take in and absorb all that is around you, you get to assess your circumstance or situation better, you get to enjoy the process more. Take for example the act of eating, when you eat quickly versus taking your time to eat, you do not enjoy the food as much, and often time, that makes your body work harder to digest the food you just ingested which may later on bring health issues. As a matter of fact, the whole concept of fast-paced has brought only dire consequences to our society, think for example of the fast food industry and what it does to us. It’s true that the issue with that industry is not only the result of wanting everything now but of greed as well. However, when I look at the life of Paul, I am amazed at how he welcomed perseverance, endurance, waiting on the Lord without wavering. The sufferings he experienced for the sake of Christ did not deter him from his call of proclaiming Christ to the Gentile nations. As a matter of fact, it seemed, persecutions gave him more zeal and stamina to keep going. Paul was confident in his identity in Christ and in who Christ was so he knew where to run to when difficulties arose. Moreover, Paul’s eyes were set on the goal that was the prize he would get from obeying the call of God in his life, the recompense the Lord would give him at the resurrection. Paul did not live for the “here and now” nor did he live for what the world offers. Instead, Paul lived for what was unseen, because as he puts it: “the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Paul had one goal, complete the work the Lord Jesus gave him. I loved the excerpt from the song “Souled Out” by Lecrae where he used the words of Paul from Acts 20:24 in the intro which says: “Man I consider my life nothing, if I could just finish the race and complete the job the Lord Jesus gave me, I live to tell the world His message, Romans 1:16, I’m not ashamed, I ain’t ashamed, we’re souled out”. That’s exactly what Paul was, “souled out”. Truly his life was not his own anymore. What he wrote he lived. As a matter of fact, often times, as he was writing you could see the very instructions he was giving out being lived out in the letter. For example, when he spoke to the Philippians church, he told them to consider the needs of others above theirs, and he told them to be joyful. Well, in the same letter, Paul tells the church he will be sending them Timothy in addition to Epaphroditus, a Philippian that was sent to Paul by the Philippian church to attend to his needs. These two brothers were a huge blessing to Paul and Epaphroditus even more so to the Philippians yet Paul chose to send him back for the joy of the Philippians (Philippians 2:28)! It’s also important to note here that while Paul is writing, he is in prison so if anyone needed comfort and joy, surely it was him but he preferred to put aside his own needs to attend to the needs of others. Precisely what he has been writing to the church about! This is one example among many. Paul imitated the life of Jesus very well, for Jesus too lived in accordance with the word he gave us. There is nothing in the life of Jesus that was contradictory to the word he spoke. Both of these men pressed on in the face of adversity, like David, they strengthened themselves in the Lord. They were focused on their mission and neither looked to the left nor to the right, they were diligent. One attitude of Paul that I want to emulate is the attitude of “trying again”. Wherever Paul went, irrespective of what was awaiting him in that city, he kept going to the next city and the next until his mission was complete. At the face of rejection he pressed on, he tried another city and the beauty here is that he made the most of the opportunities he was given like he encourages us to do in Colossians (chapter 4:5). To the extent that even in prison, Paul preached the gospel and encouraged churches. He was a pastor even in prison. He persevered through such seasons, always choosing to look at the bright side which is that all things were working for his good (Romans 8:28), not neglecting to worship his Lord, and even in instances where the answer to his request was not granted, he continued to remain steadfast (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Therefore like Paul, let us forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14). We too who are in Christ have a prize that is awaiting us in heaven and it is based on our obedience for we know God is a rewarder (Jeremiah 51:56; Revelation 22:12; Hebrews 11:6). Like Paul, we also need to be clear on who Christ is, who we are in Christ, and what our new identity in Christ gives us. This knowledge will help us focus on heaven and the prize when difficulties arise. It will help us press on when we feel like the Lord tarries or when waiting on Him becomes a burden. In every circumstance, we need to ensure we do not stop walking in a manner worthy of the gospel. That means, obedience to Christ should continue to be found in our midst, the fruits of the spirit should not depart from our lives. Indeed, trials and tribulations should not be surprising to us but should instead make us rejoice because we are sharing in the suffering of Christ (1 Peter 4:12). Such was the mindset of Paul, Peter and the great cloud of witness we have. May this be ours too. I pray the Lord gives us the strength to press on and reminds us of the reward that awaits us. Amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 