“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:10
What is the first image that pops into your mind when you hear the word “endurance”? The most common is an image of athletics: marathon runners, weightlifters, or bikers. Endurance is the ability to exert power over a long period of time under strain. It is usually measured by muscle, sweat, and strength.
In verse 10, Jesus commends the church in Philadelphia for their endurance. In this one verse, a picture may be forming in our minds of a church filled with 1st-century, strong, super-Christians far more devout and committed to Jesus than us in our ordinary weeks. A commendation of endurance may not immediately resonate with your experience of the Christian life today. However, if we look back to verse 8, we read, “I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word.” The endurance that Jesus commends them for, looks very much like powerlessness and weakness through the eyes of the world. These Christians in Philadelphia did not necessarily have any strength in themselves. In fact, Jesus said that their strength came from outside themselves. The picture of the church in Philadelphia is a small, weak community that patiently clung to Jesus’ words for strength and deliverance.
Instead of falling into the anxiety of thinking you have to outsmart, outmaneuver, and outgun the challenges and pressures of your life, you can take an alternative route. You can instead, trust that Jesus is fully capable of doing exactly what He promises. You can trust that His words about you and the world are truer than the thoughts and fears running through your head. When that happens, you will be able to patiently endure the worries, fears, and pressures of the world with lightness and easiness.
The second part of verse 10 is Jesus’ words of promise, “I will keep you from the hour of trial.” We discover the supremely comforting truth of the Christian life. When we keep Jesus’ words and trust Him, we discover that He is the One already keeping us. He already has plans to hold fast to us. The faithfulness of Jesus is the source of ultimate endurance in the Christian life, not your faithfulness. The Christian life is one of continual repentance and turning to the life-giving words of Jesus and finding at the end, that He was the One keeping us.
So today, as you enter the worries and pressures of the day and experience moments that make the words of Jesus seem distant or insignificant, remember they are life and truth. He has better and truer words than the world, and His word is good. The words of Jesus are good news of life, joy, and peace. Listen to those and patiently endure with joy.