These are words that don’t normally go together, but thankfully for Christians they do go together.
We are incapable of enduring on our own. How often must we be reminded of that through the lives of those around us, through our own lives? But the good news is that we know who is capable of enduring, and all we’re called to do is to run to him.
Why is this so important to understand? Because your endurance will be spotty at best. There will be moments when you forget who you are and live as a grace amnesiac. There will be times when you get discouraged and for a while quit doing the good things God calls you to do. There will be moments, big and small, when you willingly rebel.
Perfect endurance demands just that—perfection—and since none of us is there yet, we must look outside ourselves for hope. Your hope of enduring is not to be found in your character or strength, but in your Lord’s.
Paul David Tripp