You CAN stand up under the pressure!

I learned many things in the last 24 months about standing up under pressure. In March, Bev received a diagnosis of cancer, had to go through extensive surgery and chemotherapy. We lived with daily uncertainty about the future.  I, too, had some physical issues and was hospitalized twice.  These things came on top of the day to day issues that continued. Paul’s words about living with brokenness became very real to me. "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:8-10, NIV)  I am not writing this for sympathy, but to encourage you! If someone had written down all the trials that would come our way from November, 2012 to November, 2014 I would have thought – “I can’t survive that. It’s beyond bearable.” But, here I am! Bev is strong again. My body is healed. The other issues are settled and God is still Lord of my heart.

There is a word in the New Testament about this. It’s a fun word to say:  hupomone (hoop·om·on·ay). It's a compound word, the prefix meaning 'under' and the root meaning 'remain.'  It is found in this passage from Hebrews – “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance (hupomone) the race that is set before us," (12:1)  Here we see the distance runner given as an example of how to live as a Christian. Unlike a sprinter who explodes from the starting block, pouring everything he has into a 100 meter dash, Christians are called  run their race - steadily and consistently living for Jesus-- with patience, with endurance (hupomone)!  The word is about holding steady even under intense pressure!

Lots of people start something with gusto- only to collapse before they finish! Marriages that begin with great romance and firework can go flat, the love buried by a mountain of work.  We intend to do that new job in a way that leads us to be 'team member of the year' but lose vision and turn into a burnt out functionary. Students go off to college intending to make the Dean's list and too easily get sidetracked into the three day weekend party life style.  And...  some people invite Jesus Christ to become Lord and begin the race to Eternity with enthusiasm (interesting word that comes from a compound word meaning to be full of God) only to lose the joy, to let the full life of the Spirit, turn into the dull life of religion.  Hupomone is not about a BIG start, it's about a faithful finish!

Let’s be 'finishers;'  people who keep their word, who fulfill their calling, who maintain their Christian witness through joy and sorrow, Summer and Winter, sunshine and rain.

Do you take time to think about commitments, praying for guidance - and only embracing those that you will see through to completion?  Jesus told a little teaching story about this. Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’  Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce? (Luke 14:28-32, The Message)

The implied conclusion is - FINISH what you start! That means - hupomone!

Remember that it isn't "all guts, no glory." Finishers enjoy what mere starters never find: the satisfaction of a job well done,  a life well lived,  a victor's crown!
Need a boost to stay in the race today? Here is the word from the Word.  

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever.  And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.  (Hebrews 12:2, The Message)

HUPOMONE! You can endure much more than you think – with God’s strength that He pours into you.