Bulletin Articles
How Scripture Helps Us Persevere
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
When we are in need of wisdom and hope, we have the ability to turn to the stories God provides for us in the Bible. Exodus 7-15 covers the ten plagues of Egypt and release of the Israelites. We learn about their slavery starting with a Pharaoh rising up who did not know Joseph.
Through Moses in Exodus 9:16, God explains why he allowed this Pharaoh to rise up: “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
God’s display of His power, resulting in the deliverance of the Israelites, becomes a central story of endurance that the Israelites look back to for a renewed hope in God’s power. Read Psalms 78, 105, 136; Deuteronomy 5:6, Joshua 24. All of these passages mention the Exodus. It is this event that God reminds His people of His presence.
We are forgetful people. Like the Israelites, we need stories that ground us in God’s presence.
“Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:5-6)
In the next verse of Romans 15, notice that perseverance is something that God “gives.” It is not something we conjure up by our own strength.
In Romans 14-15, Paul is imploring Christians to be patient with each other when they differ on matters of conscience (Romans 14:1-6). When you bring diverse groups together like the Jews and Gentiles, there will certainly be differences. Even today, we are all unique individuals in different stages of spiritual growth. But God can give us the perseverance we need to be of the “same mind.”
So how does God give us this perseverance? He gives us the example of Jesus: “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me” (Rom. 15:2-3).
The “same mind” we are supposed to have is the mind of Jesus. A mind that “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark. 10:45). A mind that did not come to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him (John 6:40). May we all allow God to grant us this mind as we look back to the cross.
