Perseverance - Part 2

About a month ago I wrote about perseverance. This is an ongoing struggle for me so God seems to be continuing to put things and situations in front of me to grow me in this area. Below is an excerpt from an article I recently read in In Touch magazine that gave me some much needed perspective.

"We tend to think that perseverance is about willpower-gritting your teeth and pushing through. But Peter chose a military term that actually means "don't abandon your post." Perseverance is tied to obedience and rooted in calling. It has nothing to do with the strength of your will, and everything to so with submitting your will to the will or another. Perseverance means refusing to quit when you're endangered, offended, or bored. All that is irrelevant. What matters is carrying out your assignment to completion. To do otherwise is to go AWOL. Understood this way, perseverance is what we of the Western church - so fickle, so touchy, so prickly-desperately need."

How often we go AWOL on our marriages, our calling, our job, or other relationships because we are bored or have been offended. Just as often we go AWOL, not because we are truly endangered, but because we fear we might get hurt or offended.
Before we pat ourselves on the back for staying in that marriage or sticking with that job, take a look at what AWOL really means. Absent With Out Leave. In a military sense it literally means leaving your post without permission from your superiors. In our day to day lives, I think it would more accurately be translated Absent With Out LEAVING. Many stay physically but couldn't be any further away emotionally, relationally and spiritually. That is not the same as being obedient to your calling or carrying out your assignment. I'm sure that my "Superior" expects me to be fully present for His assignments rather than just "not absent."

Therein lies the challenge.