Original: February 18, 2008
McMinnville, OR
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:32-36
I sat in awe, captivated by the moment, as I tried to video tape. It was the day after my successful hunt in which I arrowed the Pope and Young trophy “Web Bull” and we were trying to get my friend Rick an animal. Just 300 yards away was a herd of over 100 elk and several bulls but the two that caught my attention were the 350 and 375 class bulls dancing on the adjacent ridge.
Our friend and guide, Phil, prepared us, “Watch those bulls dance! They run parallel to each other just before they are about to fight. We call it the ‘Parallel Dance’.” I feel privileged to say that I was able to video this amazing spectacle as these trophy bulls did the Parallel Dance each one looking away from the other in an attempt at a surprise attack. The experience of witnessing the Parallel Dance was surreal and will stand in my mind as a moment I will never forget.
It is amazing how many times the New American Standard and New International translations of the Bible interchange the words “persevere” and “endure”. It is like a Parallel Dance of words in scripture. This is one of these instances where the NIV uses the word “persevere” in verse 36 but, the NASB translates this same word as “endurance”.
Because I am at home sipping coffee in the early morning hours, have no dictionary in my hand, and have left my computer at the office, let me try to define these words so that we may end this Parallel Dance.
When I think and evaluate the word “endurance” I cannot help seeing the “end” in endurance. To see the “end” in endurance helps us in defining the term. For our purposes (again no dictionary or computer in my hand) I would define “endurance” as “having the ability to finish or make it to the end of any given goal by making the correct choices along the path to finishing.” Essentially, then, endurance is the ability to see the end at the beginning and make the appropriate choices along the way in order to finish well (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Historically, I have witnessed many good men who were smart, strong, and able enough to finish well but fell short because of poor choices or wrong decisions.
Like endurance, “perseverance” gives me a clue in defining it by simply looking at the word. If you caught the innuendo from endurance you already know it. Just like I see the “end” in endurance, I see “severe” in perseverance. For the purposes of our study we can say that the definition of this character trait is, “the ability to finish well or reach the end of a given task while undergoing severe or harsh external forces or circumstances.”
Perseverance possesses a resiliency that that endurance does not.
Where endurance is guided by internal choices, perseverance is often guided by external forces.
In other words, in order for a man to endure to the end of his faith journey he must undergo many situations, obstacles and circumstances that are beyond his control where he must learn to persevere through in order to reach the end.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
(written by James William Ramos © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
