How can you endure 75 Hard?
Have you heard of “75 Hard?”
You commit to 75 days of focused intensity in body and mind. The plan involves exercising twice a day, getting outside, reading, and a diet.
Some fellow pastors are prodding me to join them.
One part of me is excited by the challenge.
The rest of me, maybe most of me, is not excited about a sprint of intensity that cannot and will not last.
I’m not looking forward to getting outside in late January in Michigan.
75 hard days are daunting, how much more 75 hard years!
Being faithful over the long haul is challenging.
We are not giving enough attention to the importance of and the challenge of Christian Endurance.
Endurance is, as Eugene Peterson put it, “A long obedience in the same direction.”
Obedience to Christ touches every area of life and every moment of the day. Christ’s call to love God and others is incredibly simple, but living this out on any single day is not easy.
How will you keep going? How will you carry on when life is hard? How will you continue when the weather is the worst?
In Luke 18, Jesus tells a story that intends to encourage your endurance.
Luke 18:1 tells us the purpose of the story,
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
What does Jesus tell us in order to encourage our endurance? Jesus tells us about a powerless woman under a heartless authority. The woman endures, and she sees justice against all odds.
2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:1–8
Is Jesus telling us to pray until we annoy God into granting our requests? No!
Jesus makes a deliberate contrast between the unjust judge and your God who loves His children. God hears your prayers and does not desire to put you off. God is working to accomplish justice for you, and quickly!
If the unjust judge eventually answers, how much more will your loving Heavenly Father?
The Lord tells this story so that you would have endurance. He knows that endurance does not come from 75 days or years of rigid discipline and intensity.
Life will bring you to your knees, and you will find yourself powerless.
If you are going to persevere, you must pray. You must come to God with your cares and ask God to lift the weights that are too heavy for your soul.
You cannot carry the weight of your world with your endurance… your legs will give out.
God wants you to lift with your knees by bowing before Him in prayer. Come to Him when life seems unjust because you trust His heart and know He is working a plan for your good.
If you try to endure the Christian life with your own intense devotion, you will fail. In praying, you can lean on your loving Heavenly Father, who will make all things right and will do what is just for you.
There is no question that God will accomplish justice in the future. The question Jesus asks is about your endurance.
The question of your endurance is this: When Jesus returns, will he find you praying?