The Making of a Biblical Leader: 10 Principles for Leading Others WellSample

A Leader Is: Enduring

Ed Taylor

Back when I was still a new believer, if you had given me a list of the things I would suffer and the pain that would be associated with my walk with Jesus Christ and serving Him, I don’t think you could have talked me out of going all-in. Back then, I don’t think I would have cared about all the pain that was coming. I would have said, “That’s okay. You won’t believe what God’s going to do.”

I wonder what Paul felt—in the darkness—while he was blinded after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. Certainly, if there are any all-in men in the Bible, Paul would be one of them. And then a visitor came to him with a message. I wonder what he felt when he heard from the messenger:

Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake (Acts 9:15 NKJV).

What would have happened if we had told Paul, in advance, the many painful circumstances and unexpected twists and turns he would face as he served God? I don’t think you could have talked him out of it. A few of the experiences he went through are recorded for us. If you are curious, Paul lists them (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). But first, let’s set the context. In 2 Corinthians 11:22, he wrote: “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I” (NKJV).

Do you sense an attitude here? Paul is defending the church. He doesn’t want the Christians in Corinth to be ripped off by false apostles who boasted about their credentials. But none of them could compete with his credentials, which included suffering that is hard to comprehend.

How did Paul make it through? How will we make it through?

Here’s the Word of the Lord to you today. To the one suffering, the Bible says,

Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

“For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:35-39 NKJV).

You have need of endurance. And here’s how you’re going to remember that word endurance—you’re going to remember it as it appears in the original Greek text. You’ll never forget it. The Greek word translated “endurance” is hupomone.

You’re going to make it through life’s painful times. God has endurance for you. God will help you. Sometimes that word is translated as “patience.” But I want you to remember the Greek word hupomone.

The Lord graciously gives us strength for today and hope for tomorrow. God is preparing you for what He has prepared for you. He will give you hupomone. Suffering servant, hupomone is what you need—bearing up, learning how to wait on God, cleaving to God, enduring, and standing fast. Endurance is at the center of your life. It’s how you got through yesterday. And it’s how you’ll get through today so you can get through tomorrow.