The Sunday Sermonette – Endurance? Your Choice.

Endurance is as scarce as hen’s teeth these days. Most people lack the long-term commitment needed to stick with a challenging task. Learning to endure, to see the task come to fruition, is difficult, but once mastered, it is one of life’s greatest lessons. How well I know.

Many years ago, I agreed to direct a classic play, known throughout the theatrical world. Thankfully, the cast was not large, but the set was a massive undertaking, and the costuming tedious. I chose not to have auditions, wisely choosing my cast for their talents. However, three weeks before rehearsals were to begin, two main characters dropped out of the show. I scrambled around and found equally talented replacements. Little did I know, another problem was lurking.

Due to a series of unpleasant, behind-the-scenes managerial problems, three weeks before Opening Night, those in charge proposed that the show rights should be sold to another theater organization, or the show should be moved to another theater, or it should be canceled altogether. All this was happening as my brilliant cast and crew were creating what was promising to be a real showstopper. Fast-forward.

As I rode home on Closing Night, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked back over the past several months. Despite the persistent managerial problems “waiting in the wings,” I refused to cave. And because of the cast and crew’s persistence, the show was a smashing success! This experience taught me that endurance, though not easy, is incredibly rewarding in the end. It’s a feeling of accomplishment that I wish all of you experience often in your own lives.

I remembered the play last week while reading about Jeremiah, the “Weeping Prophet.” Poor Jeremiah, he acted as God’s faithful messenger to the Jews of Judah, warning them of God’s impending judgment due to their refusal to follow Him and obey His commandment not to worship other gods. Those he wept for were either antagonistic or apathetic to his message. He was laughed at and threatened with death; his gnawing sense of failure was ever-present.

Still, through it all, Jeremiah endured. He knew in his heart that Father God had chosen him to lead Judah away from its idolatry and to call it to repentance and revival. He knew that God had had a plan for him since he was in his mother’s womb. And he responded to this call with compassion and tears. He knew that God loved His people, but they returned that love by rejecting it.

Oft-times, the people’s rejection fostered anger in Jermiah’s heart toward them and God. But even when he was angry and tempted to throw in the towel, he kept on going. God had called him to endure and send His message throughout the land: “Repent and turn to God, or He will punish you.” And in the end, Jeremiah chose to endure and preach God’s message of repentance to the Jews of Judah.

I don’t know about you, but in times past and even now, I sometimes identify with Jeremiah’s frustrations and discouragements, saying, “I just can’t endure another day like today…” But when I do, when you do, we need to remember the prophet’s choice to endure. That should encourage us to remain faithful to Father God’s plan for us. To endure to the end. Endure through tears and anger. Endure. Because an eternity of peace and happiness awaits those who do.

Ponder this and go forth.