If you are like me, you are probably tired about a lot of things. You are tired of this whole coronavirus business. You are tired of masks, social distancing, the promise of a vaccine, and when it might all end and be back to normal. You are also probably tired of the nastiness and rancor that exists among politicians in Washington DC. Add to that an election in a little over two months, and now the death of Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and things are really going to get ugly. You may even be tired of sports, of feeling like you are being lectured, preached at, talked down to, and even made to feel guilty, -- and that can also be quite wearisome. And let me just say parenthetically that I am really tired of my NY Giants losing, -- and it seems, losing all the time. And now, Saquon Barkley, their best player is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL. I am not just tired of that, but exhausted! 

Well friends, the Bible has a prescription for you if you feel tired in a number of areas. Believe it or not, it is not rest, -- although rest, sleep and relaxation are all important. Instead, in the midst of all this stuff, and the other stuff you have going on in your lives, -- God calls us to “endurance.” The Bible says, “Be strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7). “Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees” (Hebrews 12:12). The Apostle Paul gives us a three-fold formula in Romans 5, -- “Knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” “Suffering produces endurance.” And for “suffering,” you can substitute the pressures of life, like some of the things I mentioned earlier, when the walls are closing in on you, and you don’t think you’re going to make it. Paul says, “Suffering produces endurance.” Now the Greek word for “endurance” is “hupomone,” which means “Standing in there.” “Hanging in no matter what.” Hupomone says, “I’m not going to quit.”

I think if I were to put it in our modern vocabulary, it would be that God wants us to have “True Grit!” As Angel Lee Duckworth has written, “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, -- day in and day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working very hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Grit, gumption, guts, courage, perseverance, resoluteness, and resiliency. As you encounter the upcoming events in your life (home, work, church, community), what are the situations that will require grit/hupomone from you? 

Friends, true grit is not passive or submissive. God does not call us to be Christian punching bags. In Jesus Christ, we are commended to demonstrate an endurance that is determined and triumphant, and the confidence and trust that he will turn our defeats into victories!