Perseverance in Your Imperfect Progress
At my church we use an upward spiral symbol to describe our spiritual growth. With growth you do revisit your issues—again (let’s be honest, it is again and again)--but it’s on a different level. With growth you keep learning something new to keep your growth upward. That issue you deal with does entangle you—again--but you are walking through it again with new knowledge and new experience. It messed you up but you are handling it at a new level. You are still growing upward trusting God for the larger story.
Sort of like this verse from Philippians. Philippians 3:12 says, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection (teleios). But I press on to possess that perfection (teleios)for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.”
Teleios is Greek for imperfect progress, my best definition. Growth is happening, it is just happening imperfectly in that still upward spiral because growth involves you: your habits, your baggage, your trauma, the good and the bad teachings you’ve received, the good and the bad role models you’ve had, etc.
Hence this virtue of perseverance is a part of your imperfect progress. Because some days you just have to make the brave decision to hang in there.
Perseverance is defined as the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. It involves steadfastness, persistence, and determination to keep going even when faced with challenges or obstacles.
Perseverance is for those days when life is too much and you still choose to make imperfect progress.
Perseverance is a your decision. You can’t offload this one to God. You have to decide daily that you will persevere, even if you are hanging on by the nails of your fingertips. Some days hurt too much.
This pain is your beginning or this pain is your door to distrusting God. Which brave decision will you make?
God’s role is the grace available to all of us for the up and down and around decisions. This is because God designed us to grow over time. If this wasn’t true, we all would have been born as fully formed adults with a mature faith and no trust issues.
Instead we come into this world as babies, vulnerable to learning and growing over time. (Jesus came to earth this way too.)
Perseverance is a you decision. You recognize your imperfect progress and all of the grace you have available and try again. Maybe you will even hear the word “overcomer” describe you.
To be an overcomer sounds so brave. So scary. So honorable. It is. Painful work is involved. Discomfort is involved. Time is involved. Vulnerability is involved. You will most certainly fall flat on your face at least once. This all involves those brave decisions you make to persevere.
Your small, slow, and imperfect progress is still progress.
Your small, slow, and imperfect faith is still faith.
Your small, slow start is still a start.
Be kind to yourself about your imperfect progress. Your perseverance is your beauty and strength. Hello, beautiful. Hello overcomer. God is rejoicing over you.
Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. –Zechariah 4:10
Questions for Reflection:
- Have you ever had days where you just felt overwhelmed by just about every situation in your life? What did you do about it?
- Pain is seen as a doorway to distrusting God. What do you do to prevent this?
- Have you ever considered that your perseverance is your beauty and strength? If not, why not?
