knowledge

Have you ever waited for something you really wanted and, in the middle of the wait, you decided it was taking too long and you bolted? Maybe you’ve gone through a hardship and decided to leave because you felt you didn’t need to deal with it. I know of several times in my life I’ve done just that. Waiting is a hard thing to do, especially when you don’t see any results of your waiting. Waiting requires endurance. Endurance shows our character. How do we respond in hardships? What is the first thing you do when you are tried or tested? Do you whine and complain about the situation you are in? Is the first thing in your heart anger towards God for letting the trial come?

Take a ring, or a small item like a pebble, and place it in one of your hands. Curve your fingers around it as if you were making a loose fist. You are the ring or pebble and God is your hand. Nothing comes to the ring/pebble without His hand allowing it to come. Often times we don’t understand why we have to go through hardship. We can find in the epistle of James some answers.

James 1:2 - 4 (HCSB)
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

How can we consider a trial a “joy?” In order to really understand these verses we have to look deeper than the first few words. We can see that trials test our faith. It would be one thing if God created us all to be robots walking around on this earth just doing the commands He programs in our memory. We wouldn’t need faith for that. But, God created us with our own free-will and this allows us to make choices. These choices can be good or bad. God wants us to see and know what we believe. He wants us to call on Him for help and guidance. He wants us to see our need for Him. The more we need God, the more our faith builds up in us! In other words, when we call out to God in our need, and He answers, our faith is built up. Even when we wait for the answer, this builds our faith. There is power in waiting. I like how the Bible in basic English puts it:

Romans 5:3 - 5 (BBC)
“And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting; And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope: And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.”

The “power of waiting” is endurance. It is patience. Whenever we have to wait for something, we have to endure. Be it a little thing like waiting in line at a store, or a big thing like waiting for God to answer our prayers; it requires endurance. We know that “good things come to those that wait.” I am not sure where that saying originated from, but it is true when it comes to endurance. We are given a reward for our endurance.

We can see in James 1:2 - 4 that the testing of our faith produces endurance. Endurance and patience are interchangeable. They both mean each other. God wants us to become mature sons and daughters. He doesn’t want us to stay young in our thinking and in our reactions. When we were just learning to walk and talk, the first thing out of our mouth was, “MINE!” Baby’s are born selfish. They cry when they need changing, they get angry when they don’t get fed on time. You never have to teach a baby to be stingy. But you always have to teach them how to share, play nicely with others, and to think of others more than themselves. This is in the natural and it is the same for the spiritual.

When we first become a Christian and ask Christ into our heart as Lord and Savior, we are babies. We have to learn how to walk in the Lord. We have to learn God’s will instead of our will. We have to learn endurance.

Endurance means (Strong’s #5281): “Constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, patient endurance. It is the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness, and defeat.”

Hebrew 10:36 (NKJV)
“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

There is always a reward for enduring. I teach guitar to many students. The biggest complaint is that it is hard work to play the guitar. They have to practice throughout the week to be able to come back to me and have a lesson to progress into the next lesson and eventually to be a good guitarist. Some of my students were expecting to just pick up the guitar and be able to play. This never happens. A great guitarist has many many years of practice behind them and it show with the reward of playing the guitar well. This is a small example of endurance, but I think you get the idea.

What are you going through right now? Do you have what it takes to endure?
We have to remember it is not what we go through, but how we go through it. Often I find myself in a circumstance I hate being in. Ultimately, my character, and what I am really made of, comes to the surface.

God wants you to see your character and respond accordingly. We have to remember who we are in Christ. We are warriors! We are overcomers! We have resources to grab a hold of inside of us to help us stand as we go through the fire. But just think of the silver that is coming out in the middle of this refining fire process in your life! God gives you grace to endure. Endurance is staying even under pressure. Endurance is the ability or power to bear prolonged exertion, pain, or hardship. It is the active, energetic resistance to defeat that allows calm and brave endurance. This will bring spiritual maturity, and we won’t bolt again!

I have a bracelet that says, “Endurance” on it and I wear it whenever I need to remind myself to endure and not bolt. Find something you can do to remind yourself to “keep on keeping on” when the going gets hard. We are overcomers and we will endure and become mature, lacking nothing in Christ!

Kristine (Kris) A. Belfils is the author of the book ,”The Garbage Man Always Comes on Fridays” http://krisbelfils.com/ She is a dynamic public speaker, Singer/Songwriter, Worship Leader and Licensed Minister. Kris is also the Bible study Director/Editor for SistersInTheLord.org, and a free-lance writer for various websites and newsletters. She is a Songwriter/Recording Artist with numerous music projects including A Righteous Life, Seasons of Change, and Brokenness. She has served as Worship Leader, Minister of Music, and Associate Pastor for various churches in the Pacific Northwest. She ministers under a prophetic anointing. Kris, and her husband Ron, live in Washington State, and are raising two beautiful daughters.

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Personal power comes not just from money or position. It isn’t just about how much you can affect the people and things around you. It starts and ends with how much you learn about yourself. It isn’t about a narcissistic self knowledge, but a deeper understanding of how your body and brain functions.

You can more effectively use a computer when you know how it works. In the same way, you can more effectively use your own brain, body, and other tools when you understand them better. Our big stumbling block to learning more about ourselves, however is our tendency to rationalize. Do you think you know why you do what you do? Consider the following true story.

Jack was hypnotized by his therapist. During the trance state, he was given the post-hypnotic instruction to get up and put on his coat whenever the doctor touched his nose. Later, once out of the trance, Jack and the doctor talked. At some point during the conversation, the doctor scratched his nose, and Jack immediately stood up and put on his coat.

The doctor asked him why, and Jack said “Oh, I thought we were finished,” and he took off the coat. Later, the doctor touched his nose again, and Jack immediately stood up and put on his coat. “It’s getting cold in here,” he explained, more to himself than to the doctor. By the third time this happened, it was getting more difficult for Jack to explain his behavior, yet he still tried to.

This scenario is not really unique to hypnosis. We often just assume we know what goes into our decisions and actions. Just like poor Jack, we feel compelled to explain ourselves, and even to believe our own explanations. This isn’t self knowledge, but self explanation, or rationalization. It is one the most common of human habits. It also prevents the full development of our personal power.

Self Knowledge Or Self Explanation?

How does this habit of rationalization begin? Think back to childhood. Suppose you threw a book at your brother, and your mother asked “Why did you do that!?” What would your likely response be? “I don’t know.” This would be the truth, of course, but also entirely unacceptable.

Aren’t children expected to have a better “explanation?” The best psychologists may not understand a child’s action with certainty, yet a five-year-old is expected to do just that - and in the next five seconds! He may not understand, but he learns quickly how to explain himself.

This pressure to explain makes it understandable why by adulthood, we rarely say “I don’t know” when asked about our behavior. We simply create an explanation. Isn’t this a potential problem if we want true self knowledge? How easily can we learn the true causes of our behavior if we already have our explanations?

Say I Don’t Know

A better approach? Say “I don’t know.” It may help to follow this with “Maybe it’s because of…” and let the explanations spill out, but don’t be too quick to accept any of them. It really isn’t always necessary to explain.

Suppose you are avoiding a certain person. If you really don’t know why you are avoiding him, isn’t it better to leave the question open than to accept a false explanation based on a habit of self-justification and rationalization? Leave questions unanswered, and you may someday have a better understanding. A quick answer may mean a quick stop in your thinking, and less self knowledge. Waiting and watching for more evidence may tell you something useful about yourself.

Start saying, “I don’t know” more often. Isn’t it better to learn to accept your ignorance, and then keep observing yourself? Don’t let self-explanation get in the way of of self knowledge. Learning more rather than explaining more is the path to personal power.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

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During his fourth missionary journey, Paul had instructed Timothy to care for the church at Ephesus while he went on to Macedonia.( 1 Timothy 1:3) When he realized that he might not return to Ephesus in the near future, he wrote the first letter to Timothy. Paul chooses his words carefully as he instructs Timothy “As I besought thee to abide till at Ephesus” This is a strong word which Paul used to convey a sense of urgency to show that the Christian leader is responsible to instruct those he leads. In 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul articulates the reason for the letter and clarifies his instruction to the young Timothy: “But if I tarry long, that thou may knowest how thou oughtest to behave thyself”

A leader that is willing to expend resources without clearly defined and articulated values is essentially creating a formula for failure. Enthusiasm, excitement, innovation, and zeal can be great traits with proper direction. Values constitute this direction. If leaders do not deliberately shape organization values, the organization will form its own. ‘Your organization will be guided by values, whether or not you deliberately decide what those values are. It can’t be assumed that naturally occurring values will be desirable.”

In a time where books were scarce, Paul was undoubtedly aware that the letter would be read to the entire congregation. Though the letter was addressed to Timothy, it was designed for the benefit of the entire church to provide instruction on the conduct of leadership. Leaders at every level must be aware of how their personal values shape the values-based culture. This does not mean that they have to infuse their own values into the organization. However, leaders who ignore their responsibility to shape organizational values will create a culture that is not moving in the direction they want to go. “If organizational culture is left to self-formation, it will run to the lowest common denominator and form its own restrictive and counterproductive rulebook.” Anyone aspiring to leadership should be carefully chosen, trained, and developed.

Hoover, John and Valenti, Angelo (2005). Unleashing Leadership: Aligning What People Do Best With What Organizations Need Most. Franklin Lakes, New Jersey: The Career Press.

Lieutenant Ken Rice is an Active Duty Naval Officer stationed in Norfolk VA. He is currently assigned to Commander, Naval Surface Force’s Warfare Requirments Directorate as the FORCEnet Requirements Officer. Lieutenant Rice is responsible for the program analasys and budget oversight for Information Technology Transformation for the Surface Fleet. He is currently enrolled at Regent University working towards a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership.

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