Titus 2 Men And Women

by Denise Lower

The Key to.............

........hmmmm, what shall I call it??

Normally, when you see that phrase, you see the word "success" after the word "to". I hesitate to use that phrase in it's entirety, since in my mind it conjurs up all types of worldly "get rich" schemes.

However, this morning, and actually for the past few months, I have been on a search for a way to be more consistent in many areas of my life. And this morning, I believe I stumbled across (did I really stumble, or did God put it in my path in His perfect timing?), the solution for some really tough areas of my life.

I will quote in it's entirety, a little devotion from a booklet entitled, "Journey". The title of this message was, "Don't Give Up" and under the title was the quote, "...for ye had need of patience......" from Hebrews 10:36, "You need to persevere."

Some friends advised Mary to get a divorce when her husband left her and their 10 year old twins. Others encouraged her to give her husband time to sort out his confused thoughts. While divorce seemed a quick way to bring resolution to the pain and disorder in her life, she decided to listen to those who told her to wait and perserve. Mary spent many hours on her knees praying. She poured through Scriptures and talked to Christian friends and counselors, allowing God to give her guidance for each step she took. It was a long and difficult road, but in the end, Mary and her husband experienced God's bountiful grace and were reunited.

Through her arduous period of suffering, Mary realized that the outcome of her circumstances could go either way. But by giving God time to work, she knew whatever happened in her marriage, God could strengthen her and take her to new depths in her relationship with Him. Her perseverance brought new depth of character, which enabled her to dig down into God's resources and abide with Him within the shelter of His sustaining love.

When trials uproot the security of our world, we are at a loss to understand why a loving, merciful and omnipotent God allows us to suffer. But sometimes it is in such dead-ends of suffering that we stretch our inner person to reach into God's deeper truths. Thomas Edison once said: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Continuing to persevere when things are hard makes us stronger and builds character.

Do circumstances in life sometimes bring you so low you feel like giving up? You may feel discouraged in your job, or in your relationships at home or at work. But this may be a time for perseverance. Sometimes we need to dig deep and let God grow within us the spiritual fruit that has yet to ripen in our lives. Perseverance requires patience, humility, faith, prayer, wisdom and endurance.

Then, directly under this story was a caption that read "Deeper Walk", and listed under this was the scripture reference, Hebrews 10:35-39.....and after reading that passage of scripture, I came to understand my problem of inconsistency in an entirely different light.

Hebrews 10:35-39, "Cast (throw) not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense (compensation) of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just (righteous) shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition (utter ruin, destruction), but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Wow! What this verse says is a Command,( written in the imperative). I am Commanded to not throw away my confidence", which has great compensation......in other words, if I keep whatever confidence I have in a certain thing, then that very confidence gives me great compensation, or payment in return for having it.

This verse also tells me I have need of patience (did Paul talk to my husband before he wrote this?). After I have done the will of God, I need patience....in whatever......I need patience as a believer that if Jesus says he is coming back, He will. I need patience as a wife, that if my husband disappoints me, I will pray through that trial and see what happens on the other side, not just throw in the towel. I need patience as a mother, that if my children stray from the faith, I have taught them.  I will pray,  and be assured that God is working in their lives and will do His perfect will in their lives, not what I want to happen.

I shall (another imperative) live by faith, not maybe, not should, not if I want to , but I shall live by faith. However, if I go back on that faith, or "draw back" as the verse says; or just sort of "give up" in that confidence I had in the fact that Jesus is coming back, or that my husband really loves me or that my children will return to the faith in which they were raised. Then other believers who are watching me and my reactions to those trials in my life, are going to be disappointed. I am not to be one who backslides into total destruction, but I am to believe (have faith) that Jesus saved my soul and is coming back for me, will lead my husband out of his trials and will draw my children back to Him.

What amazes me is that I can put just about any circumstance in there and it covers it! Don't throw away the confidence you have put in your _________, fill in the blank.........husband, child, diet, school, parents, church, pastor, I could go on and on.

I have need of patience..............amen to that! Don't we all need help in that area from time to time........or all the time? Once I am doing the will of God in my life, I need to live by faith. It is no mistake that these verses precede Chapter 11, which is the "Hall of Faith" chapter we refer to so often. The first verse in that chapter tells us what faith is: the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

This chapter begins by telling us about Abel and Enoch. Then, in verse 6, it tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. These scriptures then state that God rewards those who diligently seek him, there is more about the great heroes of the faith, then scripture tells us that if those people had constantly thought about the "way it used to be" (they were being "drawn back"), they would have backslidden. (This reminds me of the Israelites in the wilderness, always thinking about the garlic and the leeks and the onions in Egypt, which caused them to turn their backs on God every time). but since these "heroes of the faith" kept their eyes on heaven, they were able to go to that place that Jesus is preparing for us.

It amazes me to read of the sufferings of these great heroes in verses 33-40. I think I've suffered a lot when I have a headache because of adjusting to a new way of eating, or when I've explained the short vowel sound to Caleb for the seventy eleventh time ...........and he still doesn't get it. These inconveniences I experience seem small in comparison to Hebrews 11:33-40.

I really want to "throw away my confidence" (in the fact that I will ever adjust to no sugar, or that Caleb will ever learn his phonics), or just plain old "give up", but I am commanded to have patience.  It is one of the fruits of the spirit, and I believe that is what the author of the devotion referred to when he said, "sometimes we need to dig deep and let God grow within us the spiritual fruit that has yet to ripen in our lives. Fruit takes many steps of growth before it becomes fruit. Many times I want "instant fruit", but God keeps telling me there is no other way to get fruit, than to let it mature.

Maybe I think I am not doing the will of God in my life. Maybe this is why we need to always "commit our ways" unto Him. God will let me know if I'm not doing His will.....usually with a major wall that I run into, but also through studying and meditating on His Word. God does not want us to just follow His directions blindly, He wants us to understand why He directs us along certain paths. One way to do this is to never neglect God's Word. Which is probably why God led me to write the article about How to have Daily Devotion's just before He led me to write about this.

Today's society has been called a "throw away" society. We use paper plates and paper napkins at meals. We cook our family dinners in minutes in the microwave oven. We go out and buy a new shirt or pair of pants when they get a tear in them or a button falls off, instead of repairing them. We buy a new car every 2 or 3 years or lease one that often. Our furniture usually wears out within 5 years and we purchase new that will probably only last as long. Things our grandparents saved up for, purchased and used for the rest of their lives, we replace many times in a lifetime.

Even our entertainment is "disposable". If we don't like what we see on one channel, we flip through the multiple channels available either on cable or satellite dish until we find something that pleases our eye. Within minutes our attention is drawn away, but we continue to stare catatonically at the screen, thinking it will get better any minute, or flipping through the channels again.

We are not taught in today's society to make anything last, not even relationships. If our marriages are difficult, we are instructed to end them. If our children give us trouble, we are told to give up on them. If our friends do something that doesn't please us, we dump them and go off looking for someone that fits our definition of "friend". If our careers or jobs become less than satisfying, we change careers. I think of my father, who worked in a factory for over 30 years, most of the time doing the same mundane job. How many times did he feel like quitting?

Perseverance is a quality that is no longer taught in our schools, our homes or even in some of our churches. If I am to truly be a "follower of Christ", then I must endeavor to follow all the Lord commanded me. Many times I have given up, but now that I understand that one section of scripture in Hebrews, I have pledged to God that I will begin to develop the spirit of perseverance in my life, so that when the trails that make me want to give up do come, I will be able to hang on until God works whatever it is in my life that He wants me to learn.

In doing this, I believe the trials themselves will become less troubling, I will be able to "go the distance" without giving up, as I lean more on God and His will for my life, and less on my own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

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