Endure—stay under it

If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
Revelation 13:10

Thankfully, I haven’t been called to be taken captive or to be slain with the sword (at least not that I know of yet).

But we’re each called to do something. Sometimes it’s revealed to us plainly; sometimes, not.

I know I have a call to love on my husband, to train my kids, and in the past few months, to co-parent my parent with my siblings.

Whatever it is we’re called to do, we’re also called to endure it with faith.

I’ve always been intrigued by the Greek word for endure, hupomenō. It comes from two other words: the preposition hupo, meaning “under” and the verb menō meaning “stay.”

So the call to endure means we need to ‘stay under,’ and not try to wriggle out from underneath our responsibilities. Even when we might want to break free of this or that, or dodge an assignment here or there.

Be a saint more than in name only. We’re called to be (1 Corinthians 1:2). So let’s steadfastly stay under our calling with cheerfulness and patience, as we call on the Lord’s name to accomplish it.

Lord,
We hear the call.
May we endure with great faith.