1. Download the Podcast of the show and listen to it again. 2. Read Mark’s Blog, and write out your answers to the questions that follow. 3. Call or email a few friends, and invite them to join you in steps 1 and 2. 4. Set up a time to meet and discuss your answers.

You hear it on the news almost every night: “It took us a long time to get into this mess, and it’s going to take us a long time to get out of it.” It doesn’t really matter which particular “mess” they’re talking about – Iraq, the economy, Afghanistan, the housing crisis, rising unemployment. The answer is the same: I was thinking about that today, in the context of Joseph’s life. Before he knew it, he went from being the favored son of his father to a slave in a foreign prison. When his brothers sold him into slavery he was a 17-year-old teenager. By the time he gets released from prison, he’ll be a grown man of 30. Math is not my strong suit, but even I can do that one.

Thirteen hard, dismal, gruel-eating years? Seems to me a trial lasting that long would require something more than patience. Perhaps you’ve been in a similar boat – in a marriage bogged down by the same problems, year after year after year. Or maybe you feel stuck in a job that’s no longer satisfying, to the point that you dread going to work in the morning – but you’ve been there so long that it doesn’t seem feasible to look for something else. Perhaps the relationship with your parents is the culprit, where they treat you like you’re still a kid, even though you’ve grown and matured and been on your own for decades. Trials like that – the ones that drag on for years and decades, not weeks or months – are a common occurrence in the Bible. Abraham waited 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled in his life. Moses’ trial lasted 40 years. The Apostle Paul had a 13 year stretch between his Damascus road conversion and his first missionary journey. Patience will get you through a short-term test, but you’re going to have to acquaint yourself with another word from the Bible in order to make it through a trial that endures for years. That word? .

Here’s a simple definition of what it means to persevere:

It’s not shrugging your shoulders and simply giving up. It’s not pretending like the difficult situation doesn’t really exist. It’s staying engaged, relying upon God for the strength to make it through, one day at a time. It’s keeping hope alive in your heart, facing each day with a commitment to serve others with your gifts, no matter what your circumstances happen to be. Which, by the way, is exactly what Joseph did in prison – for 13 long years. Think about it like this: Those trials that seem to last forever – the ones that require you to turn your patience into perseverance – are actually the shortest route toward growth and maturity. When you learn to stay fully present in the midst of a long trial – with contentment that doesn’t depend upon your circumstances – you’ll discover that your destiny is much closer than you could ever imagine. It’s true for us as individuals, and true for our nation as well.    

1. What is the “enduring trial” in your life? How long has it been going on? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. How have you been handling it, up to this point? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. When have you almost given up? What has kept you going? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

4. What “escape mechanisms” do you employ to try and avoid this trial? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. Why is it so difficult to keep hope alive in the midst of a long trial? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. Where have you seen growth in your life as a result of this trial? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 7. How do you think God wants to use this trial to shape your character, and move you toward your destiny? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________