Persevering – or Just Enduring?

Don’t you admire people that engage in endurance competitions? The annual Iditarod Sled Dog Race, for example, covers more than 1,000 miles, traversing from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. (Apparently there’s no place like Nome.) And in Ironman Triathlons competitors swim in open water for 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles, and cap it off with a 26.2-mile run. The still-popular reality TV series “Survivor” takes endurance to new heights (and lows) with each season.

It takes a special person to participate in, much less win, such contests. But in a sense, we’re all involved in an endurance race – we call it everyday life. It’s interesting how differently people view this. You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker that says, “Life is tough. And then you die.” That’s how life seems sometimes, isn’t it?

What keeps us going? What should keep us going? A while ago I heard an interesting distinction between endurance – and perseverance. Endurance, the speaker pointed out, can mean just hanging on, trying to survive. Perseverance, on the other hand, involves more than that: It’s maintaining a singular focus and refusing to become distracted by extraneous matters.

Perhaps that’s why some people excel and succeed, while others wallow in mediocrity. The person settling for endurance is like someone aboard a boat that sinks and clinging desperately to a life preserver, hoping someone will come to his rescue. A person in this same situation who perseveres, however, doesn’t get distracted by sharks or the surrounding waves; she tries to find a solution, rather than waiting for the solution to find her.

The innovator that perseveres pursues the dream and refuses to accept failure as permanent. After several attempts that fail, this person simply concludes, “Now we know ways this won’t work. So we’ll try something else.”

A person faced with a physical disability could simply endure, dwelling on his or her limitations. Or they can take a different approach, focusing on capabilities not restricted by their disabilities. That’s why people like violinist Itzhak Perlman, acclaimed tenor Andrea Bocelli, and author-speaker-artist Joni Eareckson Tada are so inspirational. They refused to let polio, blindness or paralysis prevent them from discovering and refining their gifts.

And nearly 50 years after her death, Helen Keller, who overcame both blindness and deafness to earn a college degree and become a noted author, political activist and lecturer, remains a classic example of perseverance.

Advancing from mere endurance to perseverance to attain success isn’t a virtue meant only for extraordinary individuals. It also applies to the entrepreneur, schoolteacher, scientist, small business owner, aspiring athlete, inventor, and virtually any other field of endeavor.

Years ago my friend Mike was blindsided by a legal crisis that virtually consumed 18 months of his life. He could have curled up into a fetal position of self-pity, reasoning that his circumstances were grossly unfair. Instead, he persevered through this difficult time, gaining priceless life lessons in the process. He’s currently finishing a book to share what he learned.

But how can we persevere when it seems the best we can do is simply endure? “Gutting it out,” as they say. We can call upon resources beyond ourselves. The apostle Paul, no stranger to hardships, wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

His experiences also enabled him to write with confidence, “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4). Paul maintained a singular focus – to fulfill the calling God had given him. And he refused to be distracted, even by persecution and numerous hardships.

Citing Romans 8:37, Oswald Chambers expressed it well: “The things we try to avoid and fight against – tribulation, suffering, and persecution – are the very things that produce abundant joy in us. ‘We are more than conquerors through Him (Jesus Christ)’ in all these things; not in spite of them, but in the midst of them.” So, shall we just endure – or will we persevere? Which we choose could make a great difference.

Perplexities of Perseverance

When did we decide to give up on perseverance?

Throughout U.S. history, a common thread of perseverance has been sewn into our nation’s fabric. Think of colonists bravely weathering months on the seas, then confronting nature’s worst to build homes and raise families in the New World. Pioneers traversing wilderness territories to explore the Western expanse. Scientists searching relentlessly for cures to horrific diseases.

Consider industrialists and inventors laboring long hours and risking everything they had in pursuit of dreams and innovation. A nation united in sacrifice to ensure the war effort’s success. Families scraping for years to amass enough money for the down payment on a house.

None of this was easy, but perseverance – bulldoggish determination that refused to accept failure as a final answer – carried Americans through, individually and collectively.

Today, we’ve devolved into a no-waiting, quick fix, microwave society. “I want it, and I want it now!” has become our mantra. We bow at the altar of instant gratification. We fume while standing to place fast-food orders; grumble in checkout lines; grit our teeth at red lights. And lose interest and give up when anything requires too much time or energy.

Mountain climbing requires
perseverance.

Recently my old “friend,” Oswald Chambers, made an important distinction. In his classic devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest,” Chambers observed, “Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling.”

This evoked images of mountain climbing. I thought first of a climber that has slipped and clings desperately to a rock or tree branch, fearful of harm to life and limb. This illustrates endurance, trying to survive. The other climber encounters obstacles, but with skill and determination overcomes them and advances slowly toward the summit. This demonstrates perseverance.

Perhaps marching toward post-modernity, our hell-bent insistence on evicting God from public consciousness, has precipitated the death of perseverance. Because what Chambers called “absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen” lies at the heart of biblical faith. As followers of Christ, because we embrace hope and not “hope so,” we persevere.  

James 1:2-4 declares, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

If that’s true, refusal to persevere in the face of adversity leaves us immature and incomplete, lacking what we need – as individuals and as a nation – to live this life as intended.