Hebrews 10:37 For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.
A friend of mine is recovering from a serious injury. She spent months in physical therapy, learning first to stand and sit again, to walk with a walker and then with a cane. She does exercises which are designed to strengthen her muscles; the therapists tell her that her pain will diminish as her muscles strengthen.
And she finds that this is true: slowly but surely, she is getting better. She can now walk long distances, and she has just begun riding a bicycle again. At first, she could not ride the bike up the gentle slope of her driveway. She would have to dismount and walk it up. It was discouraging, not being able to go up such a little hill. She kept trying; she’d go a few yards up before her strength failed. Then a few yards more. Then halfway. Finally one day, she sailed up the drive, ringing her little bicycle bell in triumph.
Nothing comes to us overnight. God calls us to a life of faith, not a life of magic. When we grow in patience and perseverance, we grow spiritually stronger. That which seemed impossible to us at first grows possible as we endure in hopeful fidelity to God’s plan. God does not test us hoping we will fail. God strengthens and encourages us, willing our good.