What is the difference between endurance and suffering?
This is the question I asked myself while on a recent 8-mile run. To be honest, the run was terrible from the start (the breakfast burrito I enjoyed that morning wasn’t too happy to be sloshing around I guess…). By mile 5 everything hurt, and I was convinced that I would never make it home. My children were going to have to explain to their friends that their father died due to running while full on burrito, something no child should ever have to explain. And look, I know this sounds a little over dramatic, but your mind goes to strange places on long runs.
Anyway, once I rounded the seventh mile, having only one mile left to go – the finish line nearly in sight, I had a rush of energy and enthusiasm. Suddenly, all my suffering vanished because I could see the end coming with every forward step. That was when the thought about endurance and suffering came to mind. I started thinking about suffering as short-term thinking (Ex. Believing I was going to die because I was running with a stomachache). Suffering became a sort of immediate reaction to the unavoidable present, a sort of despair. While on the other hand I started thinking about endurance as long-term thinking (the rush of energy that washed over me once I could see the finish line). I started to define endurance the ability to keep going if you knew where you were headed. Something about the hope of the finish line helped me reframe endurance.
Now, it’s important that I pause here and admit that these definitions are not perfect. It is true that you can suffer while you endure, and that endurance is often produced from suffering. In many ways they are connected, different sides of the same coin. But the point here is that in life, we need an endurance mind-set. One where our current challenges do not subdue our wills into a sort of suffering despair. The good life, the one that Jesus lived – in communion with God and people, is found in a long-term endurance mindset. One where we know the finish line is coming and all we need to focus on is the next forward step.
The rest of this post is about how to cultivate an endurance mindset in a world of hacks, short-cuts, and quick fixes that usually lead to suffering.
Declutter for More Focus
Nothing gets in the way of endurance like distractions. They will sap your energy, divide your attention, and keep you confused. If you want to build an endurance mindset, you have to declutter your life, physically, mentally, and spiritually so you can find focus on what truly matters.
Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Notice that it’s not just sin that holds you back—it’s also “everything that hinders.” Doesn’t get much clearer than that, does it? Before we can persevere, we first must detangle, declutter, and detach ourselves from pointless distractions.
Take a look at your daily routine. Are there things that pull you away from clarity, family, God, inner peace? Are you using distractions to avoid what you know you should be doing, creating, working on, or growing? Today isa good day to clean out the distractions. Start small: set limits on screen time, create moments of silence, or dedicate a portion of your day to prayer and meditating on Scripture without interruptions.
Endurance requires clarity, and clarity comes from eliminating distractions.
Consistency is Crucial
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the author Annie Dillard and her genius little book *The Writing Life* where she says;
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time. A schedule is a mock-up of reason and order—willed, faked, and so brought into being; it is a peace and a haven set into the wreck of time; it is a lifeboat on which you find yourself, decades later, still living.”
Endurance is not built on a whim with maximum effort but in the small, scheduled, faithful decisions made day after day. Jesus modeled this kind of consistency; the man wasted no time. In the Gospels we see him rising early to pray (Mark 1:35), teaching daily in the temple (Luke 19:47), faithfully walking toward his purpose even when the road led to the cross.
Paul understood this when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” Endurance is built through training, there is no other way. If you want to be ready for the challenges of this life, then you must live like it. You must make the hard choices to engage when you want to be distracted, to rest when you have gone too hard for too long, and to nourish yourself with God, love, friends, and family when life has become all about you.
Find what matters most and do it every day. It doesn’t have to look perfect (in fact who cares what it looks like!?). It matters how you spend your hours, days, weeks, and months because they make up a lifetime.
Hold on to Hope
If you want to endure without hating your life, then you need hope. There is a kind of endurance that is actually just suffering. That’s not what we’re talking about. The endurance that you need is one fueled by hope. That’s why Scripture so often connects endurance with hope: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
Hope must be anchored in the reality of God. Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). One of the great messages from Jesus was that beyond suffering, there is resurrection. In the same way, your endurance can come from the promise that God is with you, that he is in the business of working all things for your good (Romans 8:28), and that your present struggles are not the end of the story.
Life gets hard, but God remains good. Keep a journal of answered prayers. Surround yourself with people who encourage you and lift you up. Memorize Scripture that strengthens your resolve. The road may be difficult, but you are not running alone. God is with you, and he will sustain you.
Fix Your Mind on Jesus
Cultivating an endurance mindset means training yourself to look beyond the immediate struggle and fix your mind on Jesus. He is your finish line, your strength, and your example. When discouragement comes, lift your eyes and take the next forward step.
Whatever race you are running right now whether it’s a season of spiritual dryness, a difficult relationship, or a calling that feels overwhelming run it with endurance. Throw off distractions. Commit to daily faithfulness. Hold on to the hope that God is leading you home.
The world will offer you shortcuts, but real endurance takes time. Keep running. Keep trusting. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
By Brandon Gilliam
