My website is still in process. (sigh) Seems like everything is “in process” in the publishing game. Researching, writing, editing, publishing, printing, marketing and on it goes. Waiting.

Thankfully, I got to the book-signing stage last Sunday at my church. Sold 26 books! Finally, after all this, the book is in readers’ hands! 

Can you believe? I just received a phone call from someone who finished reading my book and he gave it glowing comments. Encouragement is a wonderful gift, whether we receive it or give it.

Meanwhile, I have had a two-toe surgery for some overlapping toes. I’m grateful that the pain has been minimal. (Pain meds sure helped early on.) But here I am waiting, waiting again, this time for healing.

We just don’t like to wait, do we? It takes perseverance. Things like healing take time. We have to rest, prop up, use ice packs, rest some more, find useful things to do while propped up, and wait on the healing. Healing. Is. Slow.

Blessed are all those who wait on the Lord. Isaiah 30:18

We do well to wait on the Lord and on His timing. He may be teaching us something in the midst of the waiting or healing or suffering. He calls on us to persevere in these trying times.

Persevere when you have physical suffering. Persevere when someone disappoints you or betrays you or harms you. Persevere when you realize you have done some of these things and need to make amends.

I found it interesting that the rover NASA sent to Mars last year was called “Perseverance.” Its job was to look for signs of past microbial life, cache rock and soil, and prepare for future samples of human exploration. So, the rover looked for signs, collected valuable things, and prepared for the future. The rover persevered in pursuit of the goal. Oh, that we could likewise stay the course.

Just as the rover discovered the character of Mars, we can discover things about our developing character through perseverance, looking for signs that will encourage us, gathering the basic elements of our faith, and preparing for what the Lord has for us down the road.

As our character matures, it brings us hope that the next suffering or healing or waiting can be endured. Can you tell I’ve been into Romans 5 for several days?

Paul talks about the joy we have in Christ our Savior as we look toward the time when we will know the full glory of God in Heaven. But we also realize we can know something of his glory in the now because of the Holy Spirit he has given us.

Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by his Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3-5  

~ Joyce ~