Faithfulness, Stubbornness, and Knowing When to Keep Going

What Habakkuk 2:3 and Galatians 6:9 do—and do not—tell us about persistence when we believe God has given us something to do

The Question Behind the Question

The dilemma can be stated this way:

There is no simple biblical rule saying:

Moses, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus all encountered resistance while faithfully doing what God had called them to do.

But neither does Scripture give us the opposite rule:

That principle can become dangerous because it makes our own conviction nearly impossible to correct.

What Habakkuk 2:3 Actually Says

Habakkuk is sometimes quoted as though God were giving a general principle about our personal visions, ministries, projects, or plans:

But the context matters greatly.

Habakkuk is not trying to determine whether one of his own initiatives will eventually bear fruit. He has received a revelation from God concerning judgment, injustice, Babylon, and the eventual vindication of God's purposes.

Habakkuk has complained about evil in Judah. God responds that the Chaldeans are coming. Habakkuk then protests that the proposed remedy seems worse than the original problem.

He waits for God's answer.

God then tells him that the vision has an appointed time and will be fulfilled.

That is quite different from saying:

Habakkuk 2:3 gives strong grounds for trusting what God has truly promised. It does not automatically authenticate everything we identify as our own God-given vision.

What Galatians 6:9 Actually Promises

This is also a powerful call to perseverance.

Paul is telling Christians not to become tired of doing good. The surrounding passage speaks about sowing to the Spirit and doing good to others, especially to fellow believers.

But there is an important distinction between:

and:

The first is Paul's teaching. The second requires discernment.

The Mandate and the Method Are Not the Same Thing

This may be one of the most useful distinctions to make.

We may correctly discern something God cares about while incorrectly assuming that our preferred way of accomplishing it is also mandated by God.

A Christian may be deeply convinced that God desires:

• Christian unity,
• evangelization,
• disciple-making,
• care for the poor,
• reconciliation,
• justice,
• teaching,
• hospitality,
• or some other clearly biblical good.

That does not necessarily mean that one particular committee, ministry, program, institution, website, meeting, proposal, or plan is God's required means of accomplishing that good.

Paul Sometimes Persisted—and Sometimes Changed Direction

The book of Acts gives us a useful counterbalance to the assumption that every obstacle should simply be pushed through.

Paul unquestionably had a mandate to preach the Gospel.

Yet that did not mean:

The mission remained. The route changed.

That is an important model for discernment.

Resistance Is Information, Not an Automatic Verdict

Resistance can mean many things.

Sometimes resistance is simply the predictable difficulty of doing worthwhile work.

Sometimes resistance comes from people who genuinely oppose what is good.

Sometimes resistance exposes weaknesses in our strategy.

Sometimes other people know something we do not.

Sometimes timing is wrong.

Sometimes we are trying to control an outcome that belongs to God.

Sometimes a closed path may redirect us toward another way of pursuing the same underlying calling.

The Danger of Making Our Conviction Unfalsifiable

There is a particular spiritual danger in becoming completely certain that a personal plan is God's mandate.

If we reach that point, every contrary circumstance can be reinterpreted as proof that we must try harder.

A closed door becomes a test. Criticism becomes persecution. Delay becomes proof that Habakkuk 2:3 applies. Exhaustion becomes evidence that Galatians 6:9 requires greater persistence.

Eventually nothing can cause us to reconsider our interpretation.

That is not discernment.

James Adds Another Necessary Test

When resistance frustrates us, it is particularly important to listen.

Anger can make us feel more certain. It can persuade us that urgency justifies pressure. It can make opposition appear morally simpler than it really is.

James reminds us that even anger arising in connection with something we believe is righteous should still be examined.

Psalm 139 Gives Us a Posture for Discernment

This may be one of the safest prayers to bring to any perceived calling.

It allows us to remain committed without becoming closed to correction.

We can say:

A Better Set of Questions

Instead of asking only:

Should I keep going or give up?

it may be better to ask several smaller questions:

• What part of this calling is clearly grounded in Scripture?
• What part is my interpretation?
• What part is merely my preferred strategy?
• What outcome am I trying to control?
• What have I learned from the resistance?
• Is there another way to pursue the same underlying good?
• Am I still listening to people who disagree with me?
• Has frustration made me less charitable or less teachable?
• Would I recognize a legitimate reason to change direction if one appeared?

Faithfulness and Stubbornness Can Look Similar

From the outside, faithfulness and stubbornness sometimes look almost identical.

Both can continue despite difficulty.

The difference may lie partly in whether we remain teachable.

Faithfulness holds tightly to what God has clearly revealed and more loosely to our own plans for implementing it.

A Prayer for Discernment and Perseverance

A Short Prayer to Return To