Perseverance

The definition of perseverance according to the Oxford language is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

My epitome of perseverance in the bible is Job and Ruth. James 5:11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Perseverance is the distance between the two following passages of scripture:

But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:16‭-‬17 NKJV

                                                                       And

“There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth 4:17 NKJV

Ruth made a decision and committed to it regardless of the challenges and hard times. Before Ruth could be part of our Lord Jesus Christ family tree, she had to glean the field after the reapers. According to Wikipedia gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor in several Christian kingdoms.

The road from being a widow, to being Boaz's wife and eventually in the family tree of Jesus Christ was not easy. It is because of her perseverance that, today we read of the book of "Ruth" in the Bible. Hear the words spoken by Boaz about Ruth: And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before. Ruth 2:11 NKJV

Ruth's suffering produced perseverance and the perseverance produced character which attracted Boaz to her. Perseverance is the distance between commitment and results. May we hear of your perseverance and what the Lord finally did to your situation. For the Lord is compassionate and full of mercy.

Shalom