The Christians Hour

Cody Custer: Welcome to The Christians Hour. I'm Cody Custer, your host, and it's a joy to welcome you to our program. The Christians Hour is a ministry of Gospel Broadcasting Mission, where our heart is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth through radio and media until all have heard.

For most of us, we don't sign up for trouble, nor do we run towards situations that bring great challenges. In fact, at almost all costs, we tend to avoid them in an effort to protect ourselves. And yet somehow, they still come. Life is hard and difficulties do find their way into our lives. So what happens when we can't avoid them?

When trials come our way, are we able to have the right perspective—a biblical perspective—to endure? Can we see that God may be doing something in us or through us in the midst of it? And what if you were to look back over your life? Could you recognize that sometimes the best things are hard, the greatest lessons are learned through difficulty, and that you are better equipped because of it?

Well, in today's message, Ben Cachiaras, lead pastor of Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Maryland, helps us walk through the importance of not giving up in the face of difficulties—what he calls godly grit. So if you're facing something hard right now, this message will encourage you to persevere and to see that a trial in your life may be exactly what God is using to develop maturity in you. Listen now to these encouraging words from Ben.

Ben Cachiaras: Can I just ask you, what's one thing in your life that's really amazing and beautiful that was easy and downhill? Can we think of anything other than just a pure gift of God? We want everything to be easy, and it's not. Seriously, can you think about anything that didn't require effort? God gives us some great gifts, I get that, but was there anything in your life that you're really proud of and grateful for that didn't take work?

I've got a lot of areas in my life where I love to start, and I've also learned it's a lot easier to begin than to finish. Anybody? I love to begin some new project or some new goal. I don't always finish. I actually started my doctorate in 1994. I'm getting around to my dissertation. Don't get pushy; I'll get there when I'm ready. But this idea is all through all of us. You're like me, I'm sure, in that regard.

I've said to my family we're going to do this thing, we're going to do it every night at the dinner table, and we did for a while until we didn't because it got difficult. I know what it's like to quit and throw in the towel and stop pedaling. We all do. I could look at your resume and maybe identify some points in time where it's like, what happened there? Or at your school transcript when you dropped out of something because you didn't like pedaling uphill. Some of us have a history in relationships where something got hard and difficult, and that was that.

Our life of faith is the same way because we sometimes start with a fury and a flurry and we don't always follow through and finish because we encounter some resistance. The knob gets turned a little bit and it feels uphill. Here's the deal: most people have uphill hopes in life, in our faith, in our families, and in every other area, but we tend to have downhill habits. We'd rather coast.

So we want to talk today about a missing ingredient in a lot of our lives today because we live in this instant society where we want everything to be fast and easy. Put it in the microwave, speed it up. Let's get this thing quick and easy. Can't we just go downhill to get there? And the answer is no, you can't. ChatGPT and instant coffee and the drive-thru at Chick-fil-A are quick and easy, but life isn't.

Nothing you want to be able to say about your relationships with your friends, your spouse, your God, your body, your business, your health—any of it—is going to be quick or easy. The missing ingredient that we want to focus on is what we could call grit. Godly grit. Godly grit is what the Bible calls perseverance. Grit is when you keep pedaling when it's uphill. It's summoning the strength to get up one more time than you get knocked down.

Remember that sometimes just because something is hard doesn't mean it's the wrong thing. Sometimes the best things are the hardest things. The perseverance that you show through grit is the key, the Bible says, to getting to the place in your life where you can say I lack nothing. Let me tell you what I mean. Jesus' half-brother, James, says this in Chapter 1: "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind—when the pedaling is uphill—hits you, consider it an opportunity for great joy."

Wait, what? I'm supposed to be glad about this uphill trudge? He goes on to say in verses three and four, "Because you know something that not everyone knows, and that is this: that when your faith is tested, it produces perseverance." Whenever you face something difficult, your endurance has a chance to grow. The testing of your faith produces perseverance. That's how you get grit.

Then he goes on to finish it by saying, "Let perseverance finish its work. Let perseverance do in you what it's supposed to do." Why? "Then you can become mature, and you can't really become mature without it. You can become complete, not lacking anything." Aren't you hungry to be the kind of person who isn't always feeling like something's missing? Maturity is where you realize you're okay and you don't lack for anything because grit got you there. It also doesn't happen overnight. It's a process, so don't take it out of the oven too soon. Let it stay in there.

Here's why I think it matters. We need to develop godly grit not just so you can endure, but so you can mature. Not just because you need to get through something, but because of the something that needs to happen in you. Paul says the same thing in Romans Chapter 5: "We can rejoice when problems and trials come our way, for we know that they are actually a help to us because suffering produces endurance and perseverance."

This endurance is what develops strength of character. That's how you get character. That character, once you get it, is going to strengthen your confident hope. I want you to notice two words in that passage. One, he talks about rejoice. When you have problems that are dumped on you, you can secretly be thinking to yourself, this isn't much fun right now. I don't enjoy this. My legs hurt. But here's what else I know: that God's not going to waste this.

The godly grit is what gets you through and perseveres so on the other side you can say that was hard but good and I'm glad about it. You can rejoice when you struggle. The other word other than rejoice I want you to notice is the word produce. It produces something in you. When you're going through something really hard and difficult, you don't always know what's going to happen with that thing, that person, or that issue, but one thing you can know for sure is that God is doing something in you.

Whatever you're going through, it's a progressive chain reaction. Suffering produces perseverance or grit, endurance. That grit produces character. When your character deepens and strengthens, your a person who is no longer built on only circumstances; you have this deep, strong hope. Where did all that come from? Where is all this maturity? You run the equation back. Where did you get your hope? You get it from your character. Where did you get your character from? Your perseverance, your grit. And that happens when hard things happen and you have to ride up a hill.

We need grit. If you want to be strong in your faith and develop godly grit, you've got to learn that whenever you're facing something like a trial or a trauma or some kind of trouble, God's not going to waste it. He's going to produce something, and you can actually rejoice. Let me tell you something else that I really love; it's one of my favorite little things to geek out on in the New Testament.

That is that the word perseverance—you read it in your English Bible as perseverance—it's actually a beautiful word in Greek. It's made up of two little Greek words. The word perseverance in the original language is hupomone. It's made up of two words and the last half of the word is mone. It's the same word as meno, which means remain or abide. Remember when Jesus always says remain in me, abide in me? Don't run off, stay close, stay connected to me. That's the word: remain.

The other part of the word, hupo, is just a word that means under. Under. You put the two together and it tells us that perseverance literally just means to remain under. Which is so fascinating because every time I go through something hard, I'm usually praying, "God, get me out of this. Remove it. Lift it. Get it off of me. Lighten my load." Sometimes God does and he lifts your burden, and it's beautiful.

But sometimes God doesn't, and maybe the reason is he knows that if we remain under it, if we lift some weight for a minute and learn to persevere and find our grit and keep lifting, it's going to make us stronger and deeper and better. We will have character and be the kind of people that aren't just run by whatever everyone else is run by, which is ease and comfort and immediate gratification. When heavy things come, don't always run away. Try to remain under it sometimes. Find your grit. You can be glad because you know it's producing something in your life.

We have to develop godly grit not just so we can endure, but so that we can mature. So let me ask you a question. Where do I most need this kind of godly grit in my life? Think about it. We're calling it godly grit because there are certain areas that you might sense that God cares a lot about in your life right now and he's directing you to persevere. Jesus and his spirit are here wherever you are and speaking to us.

If you listen, as you think about some area of heaviness or hardship in your life—maybe one you've asked to be lifted but it has not—maybe that's the area where you need godly grit. Is it in persevering with a good attitude at work or school? Because that's uphill sometimes. Is it enduring the sorrow of a person who you love very much but they're making bad choices? Is it finding the grit to lead your family or speak up spiritually to someone you know? Or is it moving past an addiction or a sin problem or some past trauma?

Anything that feels like pedaling uphill and is hard might be a place where Jesus could say to you, "Don't give up." Let me just give us a few general principles and some illustrations that will help us with all this. Number one, let's remember everything worthwhile in life is uphill. I just believe it to my core. Everything really worthwhile is uphill. Remember James said consider it pure joy whenever trials come your way, not if they happen to. Everyone's going to have them.

When this comes, that's when you have your grit. Expect it. If you get a hard time and a hard trouble and you're moving uphill, you're not the exception; you're the rule. Jesus said this world no longer works the way it was meant to. It's broken. We're fixing it. But then he goes on to say in John 16, "In this world you will have trouble. You can take heart; you and I can overcome, but there's trouble." Have you ever noticed how the people who always say things are going to be easy are trying to sell you something?

If you get this gadget, everything is going to be amazing. We've got to get one of these; it says everything's easy after this. It's not usually that way, is it? Sometimes we're afraid of a challenge and we run away because we crave comfort. But everything really worthwhile is uphill. There's an old story about a man who stumbled upon a cocoon of an emperor moth. The man was looking at the cocoon and he thought he would take this home and watch its transformation.

Sure enough, one day a small opening appeared. The little bug stuck his head out and the man watched as the moth began to struggle and try to force its body through that little crack. For hours that little moth struggled like that, wriggling and fighting and pushing, trying to get through. But he couldn't break through that tiny little crack. The man felt kind of bad for how hard it was for the moth.

So he reached down with his hand and he began to peel it open a little bit so it was easier for that moth to get out. Sure enough, that moth emerged quickly and then was outside the cocoon. But something was wrong as its body was all swollen, its wings wouldn't work right, and days went by without progress. The sad truth is that moth never did fly. Only later did the man learn what had happened.

The painful struggle to break free of the cocoon is exactly what energizes those muscles and what forces the fluid from the moth's body and wings. Without that struggle, the fluid was never drained and the moth was permanently weighed down and incapacitated. It's an easy and strong point from God's world about how God's world works. And so often in our own lives, I think of sometimes the people we love; we want to make things easy, we want to give them a shortcut.

We're not helping with the way God made things. Everything worthwhile is uphill, so be careful that you don't short-circuit the development or growth of your own life by making everything easy. In fact, I think this is a big concern if I were raising kids today. I'll just say to parents, we live in a time where our kids are at risk. We know that—not just from social media or some predator on the playground or a disease or falling off their bike without their helmet.

Our kids are at risk from trying to grow up in a world where parents and grandparents can't seem to keep their hands off the kids' cocoons because we want to help them, we say. We forget that you've got to let them struggle a little bit so they can get their own wings. They've got to get through some of the stuff that you did, too. We want to encourage them, we want to be there, we want to help them, we want to support them, and let them know they're never alone.

But if you write that paper for them, or let them ChatGPT their way through school, don't be surprised if they don't know anything. If you clean their room for them and make their bed and do their dishes and take the garbage out for them and they don't know how to start a lawnmower, don't be shocked that they won't be responsible, consistent, mature, developed adults when they leave the cocoon of your home.

If you make excuses for them and don't let them sweat and struggle and strive and experience some consequences from their decisions, don't be surprised that they don't understand how life actually works. I'm just saying we love people, but what was loving about what that man did to that moth? Godly parenting requires godly grit on the part of the parents to hang in there and do some hard things that won't feel very loving but are.

Godly grit for kids means trusting that your parents know what they're doing so they can find a purpose in life and learn how to work hard and be thoughtful and kind and get their wings. They've got to develop grit too. That's why I'm old school on this stuff. Give them chores and responsibilities. Otherwise, you're just tearing open a cocoon and you're trying to help them develop, but you're taking away the opportunity that God gave to them. Enough on that.

Remember, everything worthwhile is uphill. Second thing I would say to you: surround yourself with a team who can help you—who can help you have a no-quit grit attitude. We all need a team around us. Sometimes when I've wanted to quit, it's the people around me who've kept me in the game. Who do you have around you who love God and know you and just know the hard things that God has given you to handle and tackle right now, but who are going to help you not quit?

If the people around you are all softies who mean well but have the propensity to quit themselves, that's just how it is. If that's all you've got around you, they're probably not going to inspire you to do the keep-going uphill pedal kind of thing. There was a guy in the Bible named Job, and he had some horrible, difficult, heavy stuff hit him—family members dying, illness, and all. You know what his wife said? "Just curse God and die." Well, thank you for the pick-up, honey.

Then he had friends who were like, "Is this something you did wrong to bring this on yourself?" What he needed was some godly grit, no-quit friends. He didn't have any in that moment. Do you? Do you have a godly, no-quit grit team like that? I'm so grateful for the people in my life. What are the names on your no-quit grit team? Last thing: live for something bigger than you. It's one of the best things that helps me find my grit.

You've got to run your race with your eyes on the prize out front some days where you're just like, I'm enduring this today but I know where this is going. We're called to live our lives with a kingdom perspective of what God is doing in the world and in my life and in the invisible realm around me. Hebrews 12 says we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and as we do, we can run our own race of faith. Strip off every weight that slows us down and especially the sin that so easily trips us up. Let us run with endurance—there's grit—and then you won't become weary and give up.

Paul did a lot of running and he did a lot of shipwrecking and he had a lot of other horrible things happen in his life. He could have said, "I'm out. Shipwrecked four times, betrayed by his friends, beat to a pulp, whipped, left in jail, bit by a snake." What did he do? He kept pedaling. Why? Because he had his eyes on Jesus. Right before he died, you know what he said? Here's the end of a guy who has grit: "I have fought the good fight and I have finished the race."

Some of it was uphill, and he says, "I have remained faithful, and you can too, my friend. You can finish your race and you can be faithful when you have something bigger to live for." So don't lose heart. Don't be one of these people that starts and then drifts. Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not get tired or grow weary of doing good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest if we don't give up."

He's talking about farmers who just cultivate and fertilize and weed and do all that. Why do they do it? They push through all the hard stuff every day to get to the harvest. You've got to have some godly grit. Hang in there, my friends. I don't know what hard thing you're going through right now, but hang in there. Find your grit. Find your friends who will help you find your grit in those relationships that God wants you to invest in—in your serving, in your showing up, in your giving, in your groups, and in your worship.

Where can I go from your spirit, Lord? Any place that I choose to go, you already there. In my presence, Lord, I rise on the wings of dawn. If I settle on the mass of sea, I can know your hand is always there to guide me. Oh, you are there, you are there. You are there, oh. Where can I go from your spirit, Lord? Trouble is in my way, you're already there. In my presence, Lord, for a word of mine is said. In the depths I lay my head, in the shadow of your wings. You're there to hide me, I know you're there.

Oh, you are there, you are there. Oh, I know you are there. You are there, you are there. You're always watching me. Always have your mind on me. You will never let me go. Through the night and through the day, you keep me in your loving gaze. You are there. In a dry and weary land, where there is no water. I know that you are there. I know that you're always there for me. I know that you're watching me. Always have your mind on me. In the morning time, in the evening time, when I lay my head down to sleep at night. I want you to know I know you'll be there.

In the morning light, I know you are always watching me. Always have your mind on me. You will never let me go. Father, I have come to know.

Cody Custer: So how about you? Are you running your race with godly grit, keeping your eyes on the prize out front some days, knowing that sometimes the best things are hard? When you endure and persevere through trials and challenges, God is actually refining your faith. In fact, the Apostle Peter wrote his first letter to early followers of Jesus who were facing severe persecution because of their faith.

His purpose was to encourage those who were suffering and to urge them to stand firm—to persevere, to have godly grit. Peter writes: "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."

Friends, take courage if you're facing something difficult today. Cling to Christ as you endure and remember that your character is being enriched as your faith is purified like gold. And let us not forget those who are facing severe persecution around the world—many who are oppressed, abused, and even martyred because they follow Jesus. Would you pray for them—that they would endure and find hope in the midst of their trials?

Our thanks to Ben Cachiaras for this encouraging message, and our thanks as well to Acappella Ministries for their music of worship. If you were impacted by today's message and would like to help share messages like this one, we invite you to consider partnering as we are a listener-supported ministry. You can do so by visiting our website at thechristianshour.org.

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