Another Monday! The weeks just keep marching by, don’t they? Another news cycle, another week of both possibilities and challenges, another chance to hope things get better. It seems it can be difficult to stay optimistic sometimes. I believe today’s word will really encourage you, especially if you can relate to that statement. 

God wants you to know how much he values your perseverance, your endurance, no matter what you are facing. He knows-and he sees-all you are walking through, all you have walked through, and he is so pleased with how you are enduring the difficult seasons of life. 

God’s heart is so compassionate towards us; sometimes we forget that. We get so caught up in how difficult things are and whether we are “overcoming” or not, whatever that means to us, that we forget that just persevering is a huge win! 

Recently I had an encounter with the Lord where he showed me the book of my life. The first thing I read was a list of things I had endured in my lifetime. Honestly, they were things I didn’t think twice about, as I just accepted and continued moving forward. Yet, Abba had made note of these things, highlighting them as significant and worthy of recognition. 

Think about this today, friend: These things you are enduring, that you have endured, are not small things in the sight of our Heavenly Father. He recognizes what it takes to “live the human experience.” It’s not easy, let’s be honest. I remember a line from a movie that stuck with me. There was a woman who had faced immense challenges and loss, and a friend said to her: You have known the depths of what it is to be human and survived.  I feel like this is where some of us are today! Yet, because of our faith and our relationship with Jesus, we don’t allow ourselves to stay in the depths. We do whatever needs to be done to rise above, remain faithful and hopeful and to persevere. And this is what our Father sees and appreciates. 

I love this passage from 1 Peter: You are not forgotten, for you have been chosen and destined by Father God. We are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you! Through our faith, the mighty power of God constantly guards us until our full salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time. May the thought of this cause you to jump for joy, even though lately you’ve had to put up with the grief of many trials. But these only reveal the sterling core of your faith, which is far more valuable than gold that perishes, for even gold is refined by fire. Your authentic faith will result in even more praise, glory, and honor when Jesus the Anointed One is revealed. You love him passionately although you have not seen him, but through believing in him you are saturated with an ecstatic joy, indescribably sublime and immersed in glory. For you are reaping the harvest of your faith—the full salvation promised you—your souls’ victory! (1 Peter 1:2-8)

There are three statements I want to emphasize from this; affirmations you can stand on especially in difficult seasons of life: 

1. You are not forgotten. You are chosen and destined by God (no matter what it looks like or how you feel.)
2. Your perfect inheritance (who you are and what you have IN Christ!) will never perish or diminish. (Regardless of how you feel or what you are dealing with!)
3. Because you love him passionately and serve him faithfully even in incredibly difficult  seasons, you will reap a harvest because of your faith. 

We could go on, and I encourage you to meditate on these verses in light of what’s happening in your life and world right now. Take time to see and sense God’s pleasure in your perseverance, his delight in your endurance. Don’t dismiss your fortitude and the toughness you are showing! He doesn’t! He is so proud of you and how you “stand up under trials” and he wants you to know that, to remember that. You are not alone in this! 

Standing with you today, friend!

Sue