“Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

–Isaiah 40:31

I have found that the biggest fear we face in the middle of adversity and hardship is not that we will be eternally damned, but rather that Jesus Christ will not win in the end; that maybe His promises won’t prove true, and that maybe the enemy will end up having victory over our lives instead of Jesus. When we are experiencing what seems like defeat more than victory, what gets tested in us is our resolve to persevere. Oswald Chambers said it best in his devotional My Utmost for His Highest:

“Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered.”

The seasons where we wake up every day wondering how hard the day will prove to be, how lonely we will feel, how deep the struggle will be, how much weakness will be exposed in us… these are the seasons where the call to persevere rings loudly and desperately. Not that you would just hang on and make it out alive. But that you would be deeply and profoundly convinced of your Lord’s victory over your life.

Our strength for the day doesn’t come from how nicely our circumstances end up being laid out for us. Our strength comes from the deep-seeded, absolute assurance that Jesus wins. It comes from actively tapping into the reality that “He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Psalm 23:5). It comes from agreeing with the promise that “those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.” (Isaiah 40″31). It comes from being convinced that God “publicly proclaims bold promises and does not whisper obscurities into some dark corner. He would not have told (you) to seek Him if He could not be found.” (Isaiah 45:19). His Word, His character, His victory on the cross is what allows us to persevere through difficulty and discover Him to truly be who He says He is.

Hold onto this today. Jesus wins. You will not be overcome. You are so confidently held by a God that has already laid out your story and gone before you. He has already accomplished His purposes for you, and you get to simply rest in agreement over them.