Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. –James 1:2-4 (NIV)

Perseverance is that determination to persist no matter the difficulty.  It is steadfast.  It doesn’t give up.  It fulfills its purpose.  Regardless of the challenges, perseverance gives us an opportunity to strengthen our faith.  Whenever our faith is tested…whenever we suffer through something, you see, it produces perseverance (James 1:2-4).  That perseverance must then finish its work.  That work, my brothers and sisters, is the development our godly character!  

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

I was giving in to the idea that I’ve heard so many others say:  “I am so ready for this pandemic to be over!”  I found myself wishing for the shortcut and the quicker solution.  People are still getting sick.  People are still dying.  The pandemic is still going on.  The more I thought about this entire ordeal, the more anxious I began to feel.  Dwelling on the pandemic and my own personal circumstances threatened to overtake me and take my focus off of the things of God.  It is a scriptural truth that if we intend to endure any circumstance, we must keep our eyes on Jesus (Matthew 12:28-31).  1 Chronicles 16:11 urges us to “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”  In so doing, we must know that God has a manifold purpose for our current circumstances, one of which is to let perseverance finish its work. 

God knows this has been an undoubtedly difficult time for many.  He knows it may even seem overwhelming.  The headlines paint a pretty consistent picture.  There is a lot we still do not know or understand about the Coronavirus.  As we sit in the midst affected in a variety of ways, with our lives impacted and our routines interrupted, we don’t know how long this pandemic will continue.  The pandemic has been happening on top of all of our ongoing personal matters—the good ones and the bad.  Whether we are fearful and faithless or faith-filled and fearless, our character is showing.  How are you enduring this pandemic? 

It is our choice whether or not we LET perseverance finish its work.  The process is laid out in Romans 5:3-5 through which we can develop the godly character needed to get through COVID-19 and all of the trying times we may face in life.  Faith is a prerequisite to pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6), and it is the testing of our faith that produces the perseverance required.  There is no shortcut or quicker way to develop it.  Perseverance produces the godly character we need to endure these trying times in a way that brings glory to God.  Godly character then produces hope, praise God—a confident expectation in the good our loving God has promised all who believe!  We may not understand exactly why this pandemic is happening, and we certainly don’t know how long it will continue.  Still, God wants us to persevere through COVID-19!