Enduring
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. – Hebrews 12:3 NKJV.
NIV: Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Ernst Mikkelson in Oregon was covered up with phone calls to his business. But they were not calling for any of his business services. They were calling for permission to perform surgical procedures and administer medication.
Each call to Mikkelson’s toll free number cost him 12 cents per minute. It all started when the Health Care Authority of another state changed their telephone number. Their new local number had the same last seven digits as Mikkelson’s.
That Health Authority also had a toll-free number which was announced first followed by the local number. Apparently, people were mistakenly assuming the local number was also a toll-free number which resulted in the barrage of calls to Mikkelson’s business. The Health Care Authority finally did change the phone number to include the local area code. However, the calls kept coming for many days. (This actually occurred 24-years ago, but it is still a good example of having to endure a situation that at the time was maddening. It is taken from a devotional that I wrote, but never posted to the new websites.)
Most of us can endure for few minutes an unpleasant situation without a problem. It is when the unpleasant stretches into hours, days, weeks, months, and years that we begin to have problems, doubts, discouragement, weariness. It is when the pain does not end, and the costs continue to mount, that we have a problem. Of course, it is difficult. Life can sometimes be difficult because we do not live in a perfect world. It has not been perfect since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden.
Hebrews 12:3 is one of my favorite verses. It provides the only way for true endurance during the worst life can give us. “For consider Him….” We must focus in on our relationship with Jesus. We must remember again how much He endured for us. We must remember at what great cost our salvation was purchased. It was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is our Lord. He is our Savior. He is our God. He has gone before us, and He is walking with us each step of the way. When we are weary, we can rest by resting our minds on Him. When we are discouraged, we can be encouraged by His victory and presence. When all seems too much we can “consider Him” and have that peace which is beyond understanding.