Daily Devotional
Worthy Through Endurance
The Lord who shakes kingdoms and sends His servants on hard roads is not mocked, nor is He absent. Elijah is taken, Elisha crosses on, Daniel fasts under delay, Job confesses the Maker who sets bounds to the sea, and Paul speaks of the day when Christ will be revealed in fire. In all these, one lesson stands: the servants of God must endure with reverence under the mighty hand of God.
Daniel did not answer trouble with haste or luxury, but with mourning, restraint, and prayer. As Tertullian says, "fear not: since, from the first day on which you gave your soul to recogitation and to humiliation before God, your word has been heard, and I am entered at your word." Heaven heard before Daniel saw. Therefore delays are not a sign to cease praying, but to continue more soberly.
Job teaches us that the world is not held together by man’s wisdom. The sea stops where God commands; the deep trembles before Him. If creation itself keeps its appointed bounds, man should learn fear and obedience. So too the mocking boys who despised the prophet show that contempt for holy things is no light matter. And Paul, joining mercy with judgment, reminds the church that affliction patiently borne is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, fitting us for the kingdom.
Therefore do not seek a soft religion. Fast when there is grief. Pray when the answer is delayed. Honor those who bear the word of God. Endure injuries without denying Christ. For the same Lord who now hears the humble will appear openly, "and in a flame of fire, to take vengeance upon those who know not God, and upon those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power;"
“fear not: since, from the first day on which you gave your soul to recogitation and to humiliation before God, your word has been heard, and I am entered at your word.”
— Tertullian, On Fasting
“and in a flame of fire, to take vengeance upon those who know not God, and upon those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power;”
— Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV
For Reflection & Discussion
What food, comfort, or amusement will you set aside for a fixed time this week so that you may pray more earnestly, as Daniel did?
Whom have you treated lightly, mocked, or resisted when they spoke a true and godly word to you, and what act of confession or restitution will you make today?
What present hardship must you bear without grumbling, and how will you keep faithful prayer and obedience in it until the Lord gives relief?
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