Resilience
There are many qualities that we as God’s people need to develop. An important one is resilience. This quality implies a degree of mental toughness; the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties. We all know and accept that there will be tough days in our godly walk of life. The Apostle Paul acknowledged such.
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).
The fact that Christ said that the Church would always exist is an indication that resilience is a trait of its members. Over the years we have all experienced tough times as we have battled the disintegration of the Church, but we are still here. No doubt resilience has played a part in that.
When Paul made the above comment, it was clearly something that was on his mind as he wrote to Timothy. He warned of conditions he foresaw.
“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (verse 13).
The Church of God has always drawn elements that want to destroy it. That’s simply the nature of the world we exist in. God’s people have a natural enemy in Satan. Paul understood that.
So his encouragement to Timothy was to have confidence in the things which he had learned and from knowing the source of those teachings. It is scripture which becomes our anchor point. The point from which we stand firm in the face of opposition. Our resilience has a base, not just a personality trait. The base is the holy s criptures (verse 15).
The scriptures are dynamic and alive. Made so by God’s Spirit. They are not just words on paper. They are able to “… make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (verse 15). It is that faith that brings the words to life, providing wisdom which allows us to make decisions which lead to salvation.
As the Apostle John wrote:
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4,5).
The source of our resilience is spiritual in nature. As we immerse ourselves in the scriptures, we gain confidence in things unseen. It is this faith that energizes us to withstand or recover quickly from trial and difficulties.
The Apostle Paul asks a pertinent question.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sakes we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35-37).
The scriptures, in conjunction with faith in the author of the scriptures, will give us the resilience to continue our walk with God.
Brian Orchard
