Encouragement in the face of... stuff.

  A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle was on my shortlist of favorite books for my sophomore and junior years of high school (if you read it, you will understand the appeal it holds for an awkward teenage girl). In the story there was a poem that captured the attention of the heroine and myself. It wasn't "The World", by Henry Vaughan, although that would be a good guess considering the book's title. The poem was actually a short and odd-sounding snippet (to my modern ears) by Sir Thomas Browne, and it helped our moody protagonist as she dealt with the immanent death of her grandfather.

   It does seem odd that this came to my mind today; two short weeks after my own grandfather passed away from multiple cancers. And I've been struggling the last two weeks to set my mind on something that isn't about my failures and other people's failures in regards to me, so again, the poem seems apt.

   In Hebrews 10, the author encourages their readers that God is the great Judge, and that their suffering on earth is not without purpose. Then the author says, "do not cast away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded." "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

Cabin Perseverance; CYIA 2012

   Sam Doherty says in his book Obedience to the Heavenly Vision, "Christian service does not start with activity." On the contrary, the perseverance of which the author speaks is one of faith rather than action. The Hebrews author quotes Habakkuk -- "the vision awaits its appointed time... if it seems slow wait for it... it will not delay... the righteous shall live by his faith." I have to wait, like a shell disinhabited on a shelf, for his promise to be fulfilled; for things to be like he said they would.

   Jack Hempfling suggests that trials bring us "to look for a way of escape" (Before You Go, 2009). I admit, I do desire an easier option over perseverance. As things don't seem to get better, I wonder: does this confidence really have a great reward? 

"I have need of endurance" (Ibid).

Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1

Why would I continue (persevere)?
   "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh." [x] My confidence that leads to my continuance is dependent, not on being "replete with very me", but rather in knowing that "I am in Love, and out of it I will not go."