Hupomone Courage

Hebrews 12:1. "...run with endurance the race set before you..."

The word "endurance" is an interesting one...

hupomone:  (noun) lit., "an abiding under" (hupo, "under," meno, "to abide"), is almost invariably rendered "patience"; cheerful endurance.

When God allows trial in life, my response is often to put on my game face, grit my teeth, and bear it. But here, God challenges me to another level. Not just enduring, but enduring with cheerfulness. Not suffering through trials, but rejoicing in the middle of trials. This isn't a passive feeling of happiness--that does not occur naturally in trials--this is an active engaging of my will to rejoice in my God until the feelings change to match the attitude.


God challenges His children to put their hope of eternal reward into active use in the middle of the current situation. I am called to not just have a victim's hope that things may get better, but to have a victor's understanding that with God all things are good right now.  In this moment, life is beautiful!


There's more to this, though...

hupomeno (verb) akin to hupomone, a) "to tarry behind, still abide," (Luke 2:43; Acts 17:14);  b) "to wait for" (Rom 8:24)

There is action involved in this endurance.  Imagine a person so committed to the will of God that they are willing to stay and endure even if a way out is presented. A person of real endurance--victorious, over-comer endurance--doesn't have to be forced to stay. They remain (tarry) in the fiery, testing will of God until they have reached the end...until the desired result is acheived.


A hupomone Christian will gladly stay long after everyone else has given up and gone home. They will wait it out with joy until the race has been run, the war has been won, and the testing is done.