There’s a scene in the movie Evan Almighty where God (played by Morgan Freeman) comes to Evan’s wife and talks about prayer. It’s a very interesting scene, and for the students that were in Sunday school when we talked about prayer last month, they have all seen it and discussed it. The basic point of the scene is that maybe in God’s mind, instead of God simply giving us a lot of “perseverance”, “strength”, “peace”, etc. in our lives, maybe He gives us the opportunity to practice and grow those sorts of things. It’s an interesting idea.

Last week at Club56, we had the opportunity to hear from Taryne Lee, a former student with Club56 herself and has now finished her undergrad work at Wheaton College. Taryne challenged the Club56 community to consider how living life as a Christ-follower is more like a journey than everything, and in our journeys, we need endurance and perseverance to get us through the times that aren’t so happy and great. Taryne suggested that GOD GIVES US those opportunities to grow in our perseverance, our ability to thrive through the hard times.

A key verse is 2 Corinthians 4:17, where the Apostle Paul focuses on the fact that what gives us reason to persevere and endure is the fact that we are living in view of eternity and the awesomeness of God’s presence forever. Our journey with Jesus is moving us toward that vision.

Talk to your student about their journey. How do they envision their journey? What have been some key “chapters” or “opportunities” that have strengthened their journey? On the Winter Extreme retreat a couple of weeks ago, we allowed students to reflectively draw what their spiritual journey would look like. It was pretty powerful.

May God bless your family as you all grow in your perseverance  as Christ-followers!