People frequently refer to Wednesday as “hump day” with the idea that they have made it “over the hump” – halfway through another week. The truth is that the mid-way point of anything is a critical time. More people quit in the second half than the first half. So many marriages fail in the middle years. David’s great failure came in middle age. It is at the half that the game is won or lost. It is at the mid point of the run that the race is determined.

Remember that when Abraham left Ur on his way to Canaan he stopped off in a place called Haran. It was the halfway point. Several years would go by in that place and his father-in-law died there. This was not the place that God had prepared for them. It was difficult, but they had to press on.

The secret of continuing is endurance. But, how do we learn to endure?

Scripture says we are to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). The divine command is accompanied by a divine resource. We can only endure hardness as we keep our eyes on our Captain! Endurance comes, not from what we can muster up, but from the strength that He alone can put in us. It is also important to note that endurance is not discovered, it is built! If right now you are in a personal “building project” then God is trying to build endurance into your life for the long term.

It is one thing to begin and quite another to continue. Moses made a decision to leave Egypt. That was a hard decision…but the real hardness came after the decision. He had to endure 40 years on the backside of the desert! Here is how he endured: “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). Again we find this emphasis on keeping our eyes on the Lord.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Weakness comes as we concentrate on how tired we are, how long we have dealt with hard things, what others are doing or not doing, how much is left to be accomplished, and countless other factors. But endurance comes as we contemplate how strong and capable our God is.

Yes, you can endure hardness (2 Timothy 2:3). You can endure weariness (Hebrews 12:3). You can endure chastening (Hebrews 12:7). You can endure temptation (James 1:2-4, 12). You can endure affliction (James 5:10-12). You can endure grief (1 Peter 2:19).

You can endure because the mercy of God endures (1 Chronicles 16:34) and the love of God endures (1 Corinthians 13:7). You are going to make it!

We are at the mid-way point of the summer and for many, in the Lord’s work especially, this is a season of intense labor. God will give you the energy you need to endure. Physically exhausted, mentally drained, emotionally spent – but you can be spiritually refreshed by simply getting your eyes regularly back on the Lord Jesus.

Personally I have found that time spent in private communion with Christ is time invested in every other thing I am called on to do. Worship is the key to work. Get alone with God in the Word and prayer and you will find energy and strength that you do not have on your own.

As Nehemiah led the returning remnant to build the wall of Jerusalem he discovered that the greatest challenge was at the midway point of the project – when the wall was half built the greatest opposition came (Nehemiah 4:6-7). This fellow worshiper/worker found the secret. His words are as powerful today as they were then: “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Keep your heart happy in Jesus and He will quicken your weary heart and mind. You will not only make it “over the hump” you will make it all the way to the finish line.

Only God can give the energy to endure.