New Word for a New Year
Perseverance?
Really?
I wanted something like “rest,” “restore,” or “renewal.” What about “rejoice,” “rejuvenate,” or “recreation?”
If you partake in the One Word for the New Year challenge, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Based on Mike Ashcraft and Rachel Olsen’s 2012 book, you forgo long lists of resolutions and choose or pray for a word to focus on for the next twelve months.
Perseverance makes sense, of course. Since 2015, I have been working toward a Master’s in theology, and I will finally cross the stage in May. I am also staring down the barrel of a doctoral program that begins the same month, so I know I need a fresh dose of endurance. I just wanted a more exciting word.
Perseverance, however, kept coming to mind, so I searched the Scriptures to see what God had to say about it.
Turns out, it’s a pretty juicy word.
Paul encouraged the Roman Christians to take heart despite their troubles:
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Rom. 5:3–5, NIV).
The Greek word behind perseverance is hupomoné. When you and I think of persevering, we imagine a sense of forward momentum—continuing, persisting, and pushing through trials. Hupomoné carries an additional nuance. Biblical perseverance also means holding one’s ground, staying in place, waiting, and hoping. It brings a sense of expectation. You’re not just pushing through or standing fast; you’re enduring in faith that the Lord works on your behalf to bring about his desired purpose.
Look again at Romans 5:3–5. Paul saw suffering as a cause for boasting because it set off a chain reaction. Trials provide opportunities to hupomoné—to persevere. When we exercise hupomoné, we develop dokimē, or proven character. Dokimē refers to the positive result of passing a test. Peter used the verbal form to describe the process of testing something through fire. The result of dokimē is hope, and hope placed in Christ never puts us to shame.
As I meditate on hupomoné, I find myself encouraged. Twenty-twenty-two left us with no shortage of trials. But I am reminded that my hope stretches beyond anything this world can offer. You and me? We weren’t built for this world, anyway. We align ourselves with God’s people—sojourners passing through a hostile wilderness world on our way to the land of promise.
This year, as we persevere through whatever life throws our way, let us do so expectantly, with great hope, because God’s word never returns void, and his purposes never fail (Isa. 55:11).