Here's how we can endure every season without giving up

It requires a perspective shift

I had to repent because my 20-something-year-old thought I should be where wisdom has brought someone in their 50s. I credit it to social media. I am a product of technology. I had a cell phone when I was 10. I had my first iPod touch at 12. From there, I would get my hands on TVs and computers, always tinkering with the online space and software innovation. Depending on what articles you read, I am either a young millennial or an old Gen-Zer. I fall in the middle, and wisdom has become a greater teacher than experience. Especially when I do not have to experience what wisdom has already walked through. However, my perspective attempts to rush the process instead of suffering patiently. 

This is not the blind leading the blind. We will not fall into a ditch. I write from what I have walked through the last eight years of surrendering my life to the Lord and learning the language of obedience. For context, I gave my life to Christ when I was 11, and by the time I turned 19, anxiety showed up at my front door, leading me to hospitalization for a panic attack. I came home from the hospital, stood in the mirror, and told God, I’m giving him a year to prove he is real. I don’t advise this unless you are desperate and approaching the end of yourself—God’s not intimidated by your brokenness. I vividly remember a miracle when I was eight of God bringing my brain-dead uncle back to life from prayer. I wanted to know that God. 

God’s word says in Hebrew 4:13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.” God already knows all the decisions we’ll make. The middle does not catch him by surprise. This essay teaches mental fortitude—courage in pain and adversity—to remain intentional, disciplined, and moving forward. Sometimes, life does not pan out how we envisioned. We have to choose what God says, even if it requires kicking and screaming. I desired to become a creative director for ESPN, with many opportunities post-grad to pursue this dream. God told me to surrender it, or I’d forge a path he did not intend for me. 

I chose God and leaned into the instructions found in James 1:2-4. 

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider them an opportunity for great joy. You know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

First, let’s dive into some context around who James is. It’s not James the disciple. It’s Jesus’ brother. Scholars said he did not believe in Jesus until Jesus ascended into heaven after the resurrection. James was an all-or-nothing apostle. He wrote this book to Christians in Palestine around 40-45 AD. With James, quoting scripture is not enough without encounter and a heart change. Christians live a transformed life—the Holy Spirit convicts. Whatever side of the breakthrough you find yourself on, suffering is required. 

Scripture says faith is tested after we count it all as joy. To endure patiently in every season, it first starts with a perspective shift. Life is not happening to us for random sake. “God’s ways and thoughts are not ours (Isaiah 55)”. Life happens to mature us, and for whatever reason, GOD desires to unfold the story he wrote for our lives. Faith is tested. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1).” “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him (Hebrews 11:6).” Learn to work the word—speak and apply—because that is how you’ll learn to count it all joy. Through a perspective shift, a heart transformation will take place. The words will become deeply embedded in your heart for challenging moments. 

Trails will come. Shift your perspective from feeling defeated to believing Jesus has already defeated the adversary. Remember, God is the beginning and the end. He is the alpha and omega. What happens in the middle does not catch God by surprise. We’re going to experience trials of various kinds. We are going to count it all joy. Rejoice in the opportunity to see a transformation within. The word says in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good, pleasing, and perfect.” Trails come in various forms, such as physical, relational, financial, and more. It’s about obedience to what God is saying and doing to mature us. God can and will use anything to aid us on our journey—good or bad—and sometimes, we can be the trails in our way because we disobey. We are to endure by suffering patiently to mature and develop inner peace.

Inner peace is formed by believing God is who he says he is. To know (Ginosko) God means to encounter God outside of an awareness (Eido) knowledge. We can find this know (Eido) in Romans 5:3-5, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know (Eido) that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” You can be aware of God (Eido) and easily quote scripture, but God’s word and truth must get deeply rooted in our hearts through struggle and encounter (Ginosko). Our relationships grow as we spend time with God, inviting the Holy Spirit in. 

Through testing, as we count it all joy, rejoice, celebrate, and find delight in it, we develop the ability to endure patiently in every season. God gives us the ability to choose him—free will. He says in Deuteronomy 30:15, “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.” In 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” We must always guard our minds from negative thinking to continue to find joy in suffering after a perspective shift and understand trials. We must look through the lens of Philippians 4:8, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

The adversary comes first to defeat our minds. Trials are two-sided. They are all a part of our process and voyage on earth. When trials start in our minds, the adversary attempts to use the partnership of our words to create realities that work against God’s plan. We will never be perfect—we are being perfected to look more like Christ. We’ll never arrive on this side of eternity. We will be transformed if we lean into enduring. Check yourself before you complain, and do as 2 Corinthians 10:5 and Philippians 4:8 instruct. It’ll be exhausting, but that’s what endurance is—to suffer patiently because our character is being perfected. This is where grit is built when you have every excuse to quit or use your words to speak against the truth found in scripture. Here, we allow ourselves to James 1:19, “You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control […] (Galatians 5:22-23).” This fruit should be evident in our lives and conversations amid enduring. No one can make you respond a certain way. Be quick to forgive. “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7).”

Endurance is a partnership. 

"Don't allow yourself to be punked out of your inheritance by not rejoicing, taking your thoughts captive, or letting your faith be tested. Use the word as a sword, as stated in Hebrews 4:12: " For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” to endure. 

Romans 8:18 says, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”

1 Peter 5:6-11 says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time, he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.”

Your Accountability Partner, 

Janae Carlee

P.S. I have a prophetic word for you. Click here to read as you gear up to endure well in the coming years.