What does it take
to endure in faith?
When, in the Book of Exodus, Moses enjoins Joshua to go out
and engage Amalek in battle, Moses assures the young man that he himself
will be stationed on top of the hill with
the staff of God in his hand. The staff is an object of power; it
represents the power of God active among the people of Israel. As long as Moses remains steadfast in holding
the staff high, confident in his prayerful relationship with God, God will
support Joshua in battle. The challenge
is one of endurance, and of Moses’ enduring confidence in God to be with his
people at all times. Moses is sure, as Psalm 121 proclaims, that our help is from the
Lord, who made heaven and earth. We,
too, are called to have confidence in the Creator of all things, to remain in
prayerful relationship with God who is beside
us, guarding us from all evil. We are challenged to endurance in faith: we must constantly lift up our eyes toward God,
prayerful, trusting in his never-failing care.
The theme of
endurance is evident in Luke’s Gospel as well, as Jesus recounts the parable of
persistent widow and the dishonest judge. The widow herself demonstrates endurance,
maintaining her course of prayerful petitions to the judge even though he
rejects her time and time again.
Eventually, the judge gives in.
And if even a dishonest judge
can render a just decision, how much
more so will our just God respond with justice, particularly to those who call out to him day and night with
prayerful respect of God’s power to effect good in their lives? Jesus is encouraging his disciples not just to
pray, and to pray always, but to cultivate a profoundly prayerful relationship
with God that will sustain them in everything they face – and they need to be
persistent in this, demonstrating endurance in faith, prayerful, always.
In his second
letter to Timothy, St. Paul echoes this need for endurance: Remain
faithful to what you have learned… Be persistent whether it is convenient or
inconvenient. Scripture holds a
central place as a source of our confidence and endurance; the Word of God is
where we find solid ground to stand on, leading us to a prayerful awareness of
and relationship with God. Scripture
speaks to this one reality to which we all belong, the reality of perfect love
acting on our behalf, beside us,
waiting for us to realize the mystery unfolding in our own lives. We have but to endure in faith, prayerful, trusting
in God’s love in all things.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
