When asked to write a short blog on this month’s focus, perseverance, I almost wanted to say, “No, thank you.” I didn’t believe that I had really persevered through anything. I felt as though I had let the enemy knock me down and stayed down too many times to even be able to write enough about perseverance. But I reached out to a couple of ladies that pointed out many areas in my life, most I didn’t remember, where I persevered through adversity and stress.
As children, we are full of dreams and the freedom to believe that we can accomplish those dreams. We don’t have crippling fears. We don’t worry about disappointing anyone. But somewhere throughout life, as we grow and enter adulthood, we pick up lies about who we are and what we can do; A burden that God never wanted us to carry.
We carry fear for so long, it becomes “normal”, a constant presence to which we become numb and blind. It can become so heavy a burden that we isolate ourselves and don’t meet with our sisters in Christ. We may even want to stay in bed and give up on our day… every day, afraid to reach out and let someone know that we’re struggling.
But Jesus, and the vulnerability of our sisters, gives us strength and courage. Reminders on who we are and what we have lived through push us, renewing the fire and dreams within, giving us strength to persevere and pursue once more the joy and peace God promises. 1 Corinthians says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. Jesus’ overwhelming love catapults us past lies and gives us courage to persevere through anything life throws at us. His love overcomes all fear and doubt.
Vulnerability moment: Lies have held me back my whole life. I found myself deep in depression, unwilling to get out of bed. And it was caused by fear. I believed the lie that I wasn’t good enough to maintain friendships. The fear of allowing others to see me in my mess overwhelmed me, because what if I’m too much and they decide my friendship isn’t worth the mess. What if I fall short of their hopes or expectations? What if I lash out in pain and hurt them?
God didn’t create us to live in isolation. We can’t allow fear to keep us from reaching out to our mentors and friends. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Did you know when you speak, out loud to your sisters in Christ, about the fears and struggles you face, the fight is less daunting? Admitting to our “great cloud of witnesses” the sin we must overcome allows us to lay down the weight we’ve been carrying, and run, with endurance, our race. That is perseverance.
In 2018, I came back from living away from my parents, the church and Jesus. I wasn’t actively running away, but I was a flower that was stuck in dry soil. I was afraid to reach out and make friends because I had been hurt and felt that I had nothing to offer. After a few months of being home, in church and loved on by my parents, God gave me the courage to reach out to a woman I admired. I was terrified to open up and be vulnerable. What if I was too messy? She shared with me that “too messy” is a lie. What if I hadn’t persevered and asked her to meet me for lunch? I would have gone many more months, possibly years stuck where I was. She poured into me, and I am forever grateful for her friendship.
What would happen if we remembered that we don’t need to “have it all together”? What if we laid down the heavy burden of fear? What could be possible if we persevered through the mess and stress? We would find women just like us, reaching for Jesus and bringing heaven to earth. Romans 12:12 encourages us by stating, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Let’s rejoice for the hope He gives us, persevere through trials, and fear, and call out to Jesus and our sisters in Christ. Let’s persevere and run this race!
We would like to thank Briana Villarreal for writing this post
Women's Ministry 