Fully Developed Endurance

Psalm 34:18-20 (NLT)
“18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  19 The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. 20 For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!”

I’ve been on this Christian journey for many years, and I’ve seen and heard many stories. Many of them were from women who’ve endured horrific and destructive relationships. They are outside the stereotypes that many of us have when it comes to domestic violence and abuse. We might envision a woman with very limited resources that is totally dependent on her abuser. The stereotype might lead us to believe that her intelligence is underdeveloped, and she doesn’t have a mind of her own. No doubt movies and books have helped to form that narrative, but these stereotypes do not always depict reality. The truth is that both men and women endure domestic violence, and many of these individuals are successful in their careers or other endeavors. Poverty and level of intelligence are not the determining factors here, but there are a few common denominators. Among them is the fact that most individuals that have suffered domestic violence and abuse want to be loved deeply, and the void we’ve felt was weaponized against us.  

In the Book of Genesis, the record of Adam and Eve shows us God’s divine plan for their happiness and bliss. He placed them in the middle of paradise, provided everything they could ever possibly need, and He walked with them daily through His Holy Spirit. Their lives were splendid in every way, but the devil entered the picture and put doubt in their minds. Doubt is an enemy of God, so the devil knew that once he had planted seeds of doubt in the minds of Adam and Eve, his evil plot to get them to bow to him would win. The seed of doubt that the enemy planted ultimately caused Adam’s and Eve’s allegiance to transfer away from God and into darkness. This seed of doubt grew and because they acted upon the doubt in their minds and hearts, the seed produced disobedience to God.

Genesis 2:25(NLT) says, “Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.” The first couple didn’t have any shame when they were in perfect harmony with God. But once they disobeyed our Heavenly Father, they left the territory of His bliss and entered a spiritual territory that was the exact opposite. After they sinned against God by eating of the forbidden tree, Genesis 3:7(NLT) says, “At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.” Before Adam and Eve sinned against God, they only knew His goodness, but after they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, their eyes were open to evil for the very first time. Here, in Genesis 3:7, we see the result of them turning their backs on God. This disobedient act of bowing to satan by believing his words over God’s Word allowed shame to enter into them. From this seed of doubt, a tree of shame sprouted and caused all kinds of fears to emerge as well.

Shame continues to do serious damage to the human mind, heart, and soul. This is never more apparent than in situations of domestic violence and abuse. Someone we loved is doing us harm, but we still allow them entrance and room in our lives. There’s a reason for this, because it is not God’s desire or Will that any person should be physically abused and mistreated. He wanted Adam and Eve to remain in His bliss, but they chose against it. As children of God living today, we can reject their actions, and enter into God’s rest and bliss, where there is peace ever more.

I’ve known women that are meticulously dressed, well put together, and very successful, but on the inside, they are screaming for help. They go home, close the door, and enter beautiful homes of terror. Like most who suffer abuse, these women are filled with anxiety, wondering if they will be able to sleep through the night without being beaten. Some of them were warned by their family members about the partner they chose. The signs were there, but those signs were ignored, and it’s usually because we’re clinging to the person or the relationship out of fear—fear of being alone, or the fear of not being able to make it in life without the abuser’s help.

If we’ll think long and hard about the situation, we might find that we are shamed into powerlessness. Because of this, we head down the treacherous path of self-condemnation. Romans 8:1(ESV) declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Our Great Redeemer has rescued us from darkness. Through him we are our truest, highest selves. He has set us free to live a life of abundance and peace in him, so we must be fully persuaded in Christ that we can have what God says we can have.

Many of us struggle to believe this because we’ve been without the peace of God for so long. Our lives are chaotic and filled with anxiety, and this tricks us out of having faith in God. As it was with Adam and Eve, we’re being tested and tempted by the devil, and he’s trying to squash our endurance so that we will be hindered from building faith momentum. Our Heavenly Father has empowered us in Christ. This means that we can resist the devil’s tricks and not allow him to keep us down. The key to doing this is to develop endurance so our faith grows strong, and we will no longer be paralyzed by someone that is trying to undermine the power God has given us.

James 1:3-4(NLT) tells us, “3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” No matter how challenging the obstacles appear, God has made us overcomers. We must wake up and prevent shame from stealing our power. We can be the more than conquerors that Jesus Christ has made us if we learn more about him.

Our goal should be to endure in faith the same way that Christ did. We must begin to feed our minds, hearts, and soul with God’s goodness. This is the only way to choke out seeds of doubt at their root. It’s the way to develop endurance so that we are not going back and forth, always wrestling between doubt and faith. Understand that Jesus Christ has already won the battle, and he tells us that we can too, through our faith in God. Let’s get anchored in faith, so that no matter what, our confidence is in God, and we can stand tall because He always has our backs. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Fully Developed Endurance”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.