Dear Redeeming Grace,

Last week in this newsletter we thought about faith as a shield that helps us fight against our enemy. This past Sunday, Dave reminded us that it is God who initiates, oversees and protects his work, so we can build our lives on him with confident perseverance.

As I was thinking about perseverance in the Christian life, I was reminded of a great passage in James 1; you probably know it:

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4 ESV)

The reality is, sometimes our shield of faith can take some heavy blows. And our arms grow tired of holding it up against the onslaught. But here we see that even in the difficult times we can know, with joy, that God is working in us.

When our faith is tested and we continue to trust and look to God, he is at work building perseverance (or steadfastness) into our lives. He's giving us a quality of character that says, "no matter what, I'll never stop trusting you."

And rest assured that because the Lord will never leave us or forsake us, we don't persevere in our own strength. We don't just keep on for the sake of keeping on. Rather, God is using that steadfastness to mature us, to see that we lack nothing we need in our walk with him.