Senior Living - September 25

How to persevere through any trial

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Romans 12:12

As a young man, film director Robert Flaherty spent many months in the far north looking for iron ore and cod. He found neither, but he did shoot 70,000 feet of film in his travels. Someone encouraged him to edit the film and make a documentary, which Flaherty spent weeks doing.

But just as he finished, a match from his cigarette dropped among the celluloid, consuming the entire film and burning Flaherty badly. His response to the disaster was a determination to return to the far north and make a film of Eskimo life “that people will never forget.” He did just that, and the result was the classic 1922 documentary Nanook of the North.

What Robert’s story can teach us today is that setbacks are going to take place in life. We’re going to experience health problems. Finances won’t always be as abundant as we’d like. And, relationships will be strained at times. Yet it’s not those trials that define us, but how we persevere through them with hopeful, prayerful patience that God is going to do something great.

When others look at your life, they won’t define you by your struggles, but how you faithfully persevered through them. So whatever you might be facing today, know that in Christ, you have everything you need to keep going forward with your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus!

Prayer Challenge

Pray that God would help you stay true and faithful when struggles come your way.

Questions for Thought

In what areas of your life today are you experiencing trials? Are you struggling to persevere?

What does it look like for you to joyfully, prayerfully persevere through those trials?

Visit the Senior Living Ministries website