THE ROAD OF ENDURANCE RUNS THROUGH THE VALLY OF DEATH

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. —Hebrews 6:15

There are some promises in God that can only be reached through endurance. Zacharias and Elisabeth had prayed for years for a son but if you read between the lines you will see that they had stopped praying. Luke 1:7 tells us that they were well stricken in years; they were old twenty years ago: now they are really old! Years earlier the candle of hope had burned brightly on the fuel of Holy Ghost expectation but now all that was left was the ashes of heartbreak and hope deferred: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

When the angel told Zacharias, “Fear not for thy prayer is heard,” he was speaking as it were from the Throne of God: “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand” (Revelation 8:4). What Zacharias had quit praying in time God was still hearing in eternity. In reality his prayer for a son was birthed by the Holy Ghost because the son that was to be born was John the Baptist. God had begun a good work and He was going to finish it the way He has always worked: in the arena of the miraculous.

Known unto God are all of his works from the beginning of the world. All of these works as pertaining to man has to pass through the work of the cross. Before you ever reach the Promised Land you must travel a road called endurance that passes through the valley of death. There are no bypasses on this route. The seed of promise you inherit in the fall harvest always must pass through the winter of reproach before germinating in the spring.

This is consistent throughout the scriptures. There was no way Abraham was going to birth Isaac at eighty-five; Isaac could only come forth at one hundred. God told Abraham that Israel would be in Egypt for four hundred years. Therefore it was impossible that Moses deliver them when he was forty because he was forty years ahead of time. There was no way Joseph was going to get out of prison the “two full years” he hoped he would; his soul must first “enter into the iron. No amount of prayer, no amount of faith and confession, no pleading with God was going to move God’s hand before the set time. All had to endure till the end.

This is good news for those who have endured nights of disappointment, tormented by the question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The word forsaken means to let continue as is or to leave alone. How many nights did Hannah endure alone while Peninnah went on with her life, leaving Hannah far behind? I wander how many times did Hannah’s “phone” ring: “Hey Hannah, this is Penninah: Since you’re not doing nothing tonight, would you mind watching my kids again tonight?”

Have you endured the “dark night of your soul?” Have you watched others celebrate promotion after promotion while you remained faithful with seemingly nothing to show for it? The score board may read 36-0 and the headlines read that your season is over, but I have good news for you: The end of your strength is the beginning of God’s! As one pastor said, “God is looking for someone small enough for him to work through!!!”