Wednesday Bible study: The add-tos, part five

 

2Pe 1:6  ...and self-control with steadfastness...

Steadfastness is how I learned it.  My e-Sword program's 16 translations (that I can read) call it steadfastness just once, patience 9 times, endurance 4 times, once 'a quiet mind', and one combination: "patient endurance".  The actual word translates to "to stand under".  Under what?  That's one of many things I had to learn the hard way doing this post.

In between three major learning experiences, I realized it included four elements.  I could back them up with Scripture, but this once I want them to stand for themselves.

1- To 'stand under' assault from temptation, circumstance, persecution, maybe a hundred other things, without falling.

2- To do it again the next time, even if the next time is a couple seconds later.  And do it again. And again. And again.

3- To do it with the thought of a reward to come, perhaps not in this life.  Paul was really good at pointing this out; open any of his letters to a random page and see for yourself.

4- To do it out of love for someone or something- In this case, for the One who died for you.

I was wondering about how else to flesh this out without running through all the usual examples (many of which, to no great surprise, we've hit in the earlier four posts.  God decided to give me a whupping instead.

Without details, it was right as the church broadcast was starting this week, and a situation arose.   I was scolded for something, and it was indeed my fault.  Now I don't know about you, but when this happens my flesh reaction is "Save ego at all costs": Desperately try to find a way to shift the blame back on the blame-er.  I was trying hard to shut that down, asking God to shut up these stupid feelings these stupid defenses, and let me just take the blame.

At this point, I return my attention to the sermon, and Pastor Josh hit me right in the teeth.  He went through a list of reactions, EVERY ONE of which I was both having and fighting, over and over.

And he closed it out with, "And the reason this happens is, we're just very bad at being God."

Ouch.

You see, I learned that one of those things we have to STAND under the weight of- sometimes- is a sense of ENTITLEMENT.  In fact, I'm convinced, at least for me, entitlement is the A-1 enemy of steadfastness.  And this was not a big, "I deserve A,B, and C" type of entitlement- I've wrestled that in the past.  No, this was a sneaky, 'don't even realize it' moment.  Sheer not stopping to think about others.  Not bothering to see actions that "have nothing to do with my witness" have EVERYTHING to do with my witness.

Since then, Jesus has been gently showing me other areas where I've had just as big a blind spot.  Satan, however, has been rerunning the "turn it back on them" stuff, the "need to get revenge" stuff, and any and every past sin he can possibly get to cling to it, in my head over and over.

And Jesus said, "You DID want to learn about patient endurance, right?"

I could go on, but you get the point, hopefully, and too much would lead to venting and then entitlement and, so on.  But God did give me something else that needs to be said about being steadfast.  Moments ago, I was looking for something, anything, about steadfastness to help me.  One finger was in my Bible's topical guide, seeing how almost everything it could find boiled down to my four elements above.  I turned to another finger, which had rested, apparently, right where God wanted it.  I flipped it open to Job 10, and listened to another of Job's somewhat whiny rants.  But then I went on to chapter 11, and his buddy Zophar gave me another blow to the teeth:

Job 11:12  A vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself born free like a wild ass's colt. 

Job 11:13  But thou hast hardened thy heart, and hast spread thy hands to him. 

Job 11:14  If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in thy hand, and let not injustice remain in thy tabernacle: 

Job 11:15  Then mayst thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear. 

"Born free like a wild ass's colt"- another way of saying, I'm no good at being God.

"Put away the iniquity that is in thy hand"- This is me not letting go of certain sins- whether I recognize them/admit they are sins or not.

"And thou shalt BE steadfast".

In short, I'm not steadfast against temptation because I haven't taken my hand off the sin.