By Major Cheryl Kistan
God Helps Us to Endure
When we talk about spiritual gifts or the exciting things that God does, how many of us would say that endurance is a spiritual gift or that endurance is something that God blesses us with?
We love to talk about miracles and deliverance because they are exciting, but endurance reminds us that sometimes life is hard and like a marathon and in much of our lives, we need endurance to just keep, keeping on.
The stories of Elijah and Elisha, remind us that, yes, there are miracles that God does in our lives but also that much of life is like a marathon where we need endurance and God faithfully strengthens us to endure.
Elijah: God is with us in the highs and lows.
When we first meet Elijah in 1Kings 17:1, he is bold, strong, and courageous; confronting evil King Ahab and declaring a drought. Immediately, God leads him to the brook at Cherith. Elijah learns to endure through dependence on God. You see the brook dries up and the ravens stopped coming. The sustaining miracle disappeared BUT God is still present.
How many of us find it hard to believe that God is present in the difficult times? It is easy for us to declare the presence of God when things are going well or there is a miraculous display of God’s power, but when things are hard and the powerful miracles are not showing up, do we still declare God’s faithfulness and presence?
It is in the difficult and dry times where endurance begins, in the places of silence where what we have relied upon has been taken away. We lose our job. A relationship breaks. Our plans collapse. Suddenly, we have nothing left…all that we are left with is God.
Elijah reminds us that even though God’s provision might change, his faithfulness does not. When the brook dries up, God is already at work preparing us for the next step. A little later on Mt. Carmel, Elijah experiences a victory when God miraculously sends fire from heaven. But once again, hardship is right around the corner. Elijah soon finds himself exhausted, overwhelmed, and praying that he might die under a broom tree. This is the same prophet who called down fire from heaven, defeated the prophets of Baal, and witnessed the miraculous display of God’s power.
But here is what we learn: God does not angrily rebuke Elijah. God feeds him and lets him rest. God speaks to him gently and shows him his presence once again.
Endurance is not the absence of exhaustion. It is discovering that God meets us in our weakness, not our strength.
Elisha: Everyday faithfulness and long obedience.
Elijah’s story is about navigating life’s extremes, about living between the highs and the lows; Elisha’s story shows us the steady, faithful obedience that carries us through ordinary days. Elisha asked for a double portion of power, but it wasn’t about fame or fortune, it was because Elisha recognised that life is hard and it would be filled with ups and downs and he needed God’s power to carry him through and help him endure. Elisha knew the road ahead was difficult and required more strength and endurance than he had. God grants his request.
In 2 Kings 1-13, we read of miracle after miracle that Elisha performed, but the miracles are not the point of Elisha’s story – his endurance is. Elisha ministers through political instability, famine, war, betrayal, and personal loss. His life is a reminder that endurance is not a single moment of courage but a lifetime of faithfulness.
Some days, endurance looks like standing firm. Other days, it looks like taking one small step forward. Elisha’s ministry shows us that God strengthens us not only for the many curses we may face, but for consistency.
Life Applications:
In the stories of Elijah and Elisha there is a pattern that emerges that speaks directly into our lives today.
- God strengthens us in our weakness.
Elijah was exhausted. God met him there.
God strengthens us through His presence. It is not always through dramatic miracles, but through whispers, reminders, and quiet faithfulness. God strengthens us for the long haul.
Elisha’s ministry demonstrates that endurance is a daily choice, not a one-time event. God strengthens us for purposes we cannot yet see.
- Endurance is not about being personally strong, it’s about allowing yourself to be strengthened by God
Endurance is not something we create within ourselves; it is strength that God graciously provides:
When we feel like Elijah under the broom tree, God feeds us
When we feel like Elisha facing another impossible situation, God equips us
We endure not because we are extraordinary, but because God is faithful
As we are reminded in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My (God’s) grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Endurance isn’t about pushing harder it’s about leaning deeper…deeper into the God who carries us when we can’t carry ourselves. He will carry us through.
Flourish Newsletter – July 2026