How to Persevere When You’ve Had a Hard Day
Have you ever had one of those days? A day when you barely struggled to survive? I’ve had a few of them… days when my kids were wild, the house was a wreck, and things were simply not going the way I had planned. I always start my days with the best intentions and to-do lists a mile long. But for some reason, I stray from my original plans. I stop focusing on how to persevere and instead I find myself settling for survival. But is there a better way?
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Perseverance is defined as staying on course even when faced with difficulty or delay. It’s far more than survival. It requires that we push through tough circumstances to complete what we have set out to do.
I’ve always understood perseverance through a biblical perspective. We persevere as believers in building the Kingdom and growing in Christ. But lately, God has been challenging me to apply perseverance to my everyday life.
Am I persevering through tough circumstances when it comes to my kids, my marriage, and my day to day tasks?
To persevere in the day-to-day demonstrates our trust in a God who will not only sustain us but empower us to thrive in this life.
Here are three ways to persevere in the day-to-day…
- Spend time with the Father.
There’s nothing better than spending time in His presence. Prayer, Bible study, worship – time with God is without a doubt the most crucial aspect of perseverance. One of the main reasons Jesus died was to restore man’s relationship with God. (2 Corinthians 6:16) Spending time with God has a way of strengthening us; it also allows us to put things into perspective. The Holy Spirit is faithful to teach us, guide us, and to give us His peace… but we have to spend time in His presence.
- Choose to view your situation through spiritual eyes.
It’s too easy to view life based on our physical limitations… especially when the kids are yelling and dinner isn’t on the table yet. But the truth is that when we are born again, we are born of the Spirit. Our identity is completely transformed, and we are now children of God. When life throws us a curve ball, we have the choice to see things from a physical perspective or through a spiritual one.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
- Remember who you’re really fighting against.
I once had someone tell me that every time she found herself fighting with her husband, she would remind herself that she was really fighting the enemy. She knew that the enemy is in the business of destroying marriages and she wasn’t about to let him! Other people are never the enemy; rather the enemy is the enemy.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12
*Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
**Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash
