Most missionaries get extensive training before beginning cross-cultural ministry. They read missionary reports and biographies. They may take short-term mission trips or vision trips. They often attend Bible college or language school or other similar programs. They know many things as a result of all the training and preparations. And such knowledge is valuable (Proverbs 8:10). But sometimes a dissonance remains between what we know and what we expect.

We know that building cross-cultural relationships is challenging, but we may expect to develop deep relationships quickly.

We know that learning a new language takes time, but we may expect to have deep spiritual conversations with people our first term.

We know that living in a less-developed country is difficult, but we may expect the joys to outweigh the difficulties.

In other words, we know that missionaries experience suffering and trials, but we may still expect to thrive — to be happy and successful and doing well (according to our own definitions of those words). That was certainly the case for us and for many missionaries we know.

Unmet Expectations

In the Western world, we expect to thrive. Comfort, circumstantial happiness, and success are assumed to be worthy goals and may even be viewed as rights. When we are not thriving, we often believe something is amiss or that we are failing in some way. Missionaries, and Christians in general, can fall into the same ways of thinking. We may even believe that it is God’s will for us to thrive in these ways.

But is such an expectation biblical? From a certain angle, we might describe the Christian life as a thriving life — but the kind of thriving Scripture speaks of differs greatly from our typical definition. On page after page, the New Testament teaches us to expect something different.

Paul writes, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3–4). Jesus warns his disciples, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:17–19). James tells us to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2–3). And Peter says that to endure suffering for doing good “is a gracious thing in the sight of God” (1 Peter 2:19–20).

We may know we will experience suffering and trials. But what do we expect in the midst of them? And more importantly, what does God expect of us?

Note the twin threads of endurance and joy woven through the above passages. Scripture treats endurance as a bridge between suffering and joy, as a God-appointed means by which suffering is transformed, by our gracious Father, into hope and life. Or to put it another way, true thriving happens most often through patient endurance of suffering, not careful avoidance of suffering.

Four Strategies for Endurance

Especially in a cross-cultural setting, where trials take on new dimensions and missionaries can easily question God’s call, we need to learn the discipline of joyful endurance. Here are four of the strategies our family has learned to cultivate joyful and patient endurance for the sake of the gospel.

1. Encourage your heart through God’s word.

God carefully designed his word to encourage and give us hope. Paul links endurance with such Bible-based encouragement in Romans 15:4: “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

God designed our bodies to require daily sustenance, and he designed our souls to require the same. If you desire spiritual health, if you want to endure with joy, then stand fast in your commitment to feast on God’s word. Resist giving up if you don’t find sweet sustenance immediately. Press on. Keep reading. Keep eating. Day in and day out. Trust that God is feeding your soul as you read his word (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4).

“True thriving happens most often through patient endurance of suffering, not careful avoidance of suffering.”

Daily meditation on God’s word has been an ongoing source of strength and renewal in our own missionary service. But sometimes special feast days are necessary. When we feel most apathetic, most discouraged, and most like giving up in our ministry, we have found it helpful to take a spiritual retreat. Taking time away from the press and the pressure of ministry — whether in a hotel, a friend’s guest room, a campground — with our Bibles and notebooks has been a key component to our ongoing endurance on the field.

Make these scheduled times to feast on God’s word a regular practice. Treat them as critical elements of your work, remembering that you cannot live on bread alone.

2. Engage with God’s church.

Being a cross-cultural missionary can get lonely — especially if you labor in a context without a Bible-believing church. But even if there are few (or no) believers where you live and work, you are still part of God’s global church. Ask your sending church to pray for you and to encourage you through God’s word. Engage with your friends and prayer partners honestly and openly. Share your struggles and your doubts and your worries.

Before we left for the field, our sending church wisely required us to gather a small group to act as our primary prayer and care partners. For years, these faithful friends have met together monthly to pray with and for us. We are completely transparent with them; they share in our trials and our triumphs, our sorrows and our successes. Their endurance alongside us in prayer has served as sweet fuel for our own endurance. We would encourage all cross-cultural missionaries to build a team like this.

Remember also that you are not suffering alone. While your particular circumstances are unique, your sufferings as a missionary are not — this is no strange thing happening to you (1 Peter 4:12; 5:9). Take comfort from the fact that you are enduring the same sufferings other missionaries — past and present — have also experienced.

Sometimes we need a tangible reminder of this truth. After a particularly challenging term on the field, our family attended a weeklong debrief in our home country. Having the chance to share and hear stories with fellow missionaries was incredibly encouraging. We met people from widely different contexts and ministries, but we connected on a deep level almost immediately. We understood each other; we “got it” in a way that no one else could.

Such deep connections with fellow missionaries served to point us to the deep connection we have with Jesus himself — we experience sweet fellowship with him not in spite of our sufferings, but because of them (2 Corinthians 1:5; Philippians 3:10). This debrief was perhaps the main reason we returned to the field able to endure with joy once more.

Consider attending a debrief workshop, especially if you are in a particularly difficult season of suffering, to process some of your losses and sufferings in fellowship with other missionaries who “get it.” It may be just what you need to revive your journey of joyful endurance.

3. Examine the lives of steadfast saints.

Studying the lives of steadfast saints can help us to persevere in our calling. As we examine their endurance and how they put their faith and knowledge into practice, we can be both inspired and equipped to endure with joy.

Paul says that Timothy followed and studied his teaching, his conduct, his aim in life, his faith, his patience, his love, his steadfastness, and his persecutions and sufferings (2 Timothy 3:10–11). Timothy was wise to do so, for Paul’s example would keep him from error and help him to continue in what he had learned (2 Timothy 3:14).

Many missionaries — such as Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, John Paton, and William Carey — have endured in ministry despite incredible trials and challenges. Carey specifically described himself as a “plodder” and ascribed whatever success he may have achieved to this ability to plod and to endure (Memoir of William Carey, 623). As you examine the lives of steadfast saints and missionaries, you too will be encouraged to endure, to plod on in your calling.

4. Embrace the goal of endurance.

The author of Hebrews writes, “[We] have need of endurance, so that when [we] have done the will of God [we] may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36). Embracing endurance as a God-given goal will help us endure. We do not have to escape a challenge or a trial immediately. God may be using it not to redirect our path but to build our character and to reveal his character.

Before God called us to cross-cultural missions, I spent a decade working as an engineer. Success was defined by producing products and improving processes — tangible and visible results that took at most two or three years to achieve. Unfortunately, these cultural definitions of success do not transfer well to cross-cultural ministry. We may spend decades faithfully planting seeds but see little fruit from them. It took years for me to adjust my definition of success and to embrace the God-given goal of endurance. But when I did, God graciously gave me a deep sense of peace and a joyful, settled conviction to continue in our challenging ministry for as long as he calls us.

God leads us through trials because he aims for our joy — a joy far better and deeper than the superficial “thriving” we may have once expected. May these strategies for perseverance serve, by the grace of God, to strengthen you “with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11).

Christians confess that God is. Indeed, his name is “I am” (Exodus 3:14). According to Hebrews 11, a fundamental aspect of pleasing him is believing that he exists: “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). But unless we are philosophers, words like existence and being and is are fairly bland. They don’t awe us (though they should).

Perhaps that’s why the Bible regularly stresses that God doesn’t merely exist, but that he lives. “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation” (Psalm 18:46).

A common oath throughout the Old Testament is “as the Lord lives.” What’s more, references to “the living God” are highlighted in some key biblical stories. Reflecting on the biblical witness to the living God may stir our affections more than simple statements about his existence.

Not Like the Idols

The Bible often refers to Yahweh as the living God in order to set him apart from the idols of the nations. In Jeremiah 10, the prophet exhorts Israel to avoid the vain customs of the people. He looks with disdain on the making of an idol:

A tree from the forest is cut down     and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.They decorate it with silver and gold;     they fasten it with hammer and nails     so that it cannot move. (Jeremiah 10:3–4)

The idols of the nations are “like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak.” What’s more, “they have to be carried, for they cannot walk.” There’s no reason to fear them, since they can do neither evil nor good (Jeremiah 10:5).

Isaiah echoes the same truth in chapter 45 of his oracle. The nations “carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save” (45:20). Isaiah 46 elaborates:

Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;     their idols are on beasts and livestock;these things you carry are borne     as burdens on weary beasts.They stoop; they bow down together;     they cannot save the burden,     but themselves go into captivity.“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,     all the remnant of the house of Israel,who have been borne by me from before your birth,     carried from the womb;even to your old age I am he,     and to gray hairs I will carry you.I have made, and I will bear;     I will carry and will save.” (Isaiah 46:1–4)

The contrast couldn’t be clearer. Donkeys carry the idols of the nations; Yahweh carries his people. Idols can’t even save themselves; the Lord saves his people.

According to Jeremiah 10:6–7, this is why Yahweh is unique.

There is none like you, O Lord;     you are great, and your name is great in might.Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?     For this is your due;for among all the wise ones of the nations     and in all their kingdoms     there is none like you.

“Donkeys carry the idols of the nation; Yahweh carries his people. Idols can’t even save themselves; the Lord saves his people.”

In contrast, the nations are “both stupid and foolish,” worshiping wood overlaid with gold and silver, and clothed with violet and purple by the hands of men (Jeremiah 10:8–9). “But,” the prophet says, “the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King” (Jeremiah 10:10).

This is a fundamental difference between the Lord and the gods of the nations. The Lord is the living God. He’s not a statue. He’s not dead; he is alive. When Yahweh is on the move, it’s not because someone put him on their shoulders. He comes and goes as he pleases.

‘You Are God Alone’

He is the living God who speaks from the fire (Deuteronomy 5:26). He dwells with his people and drives out their enemies (Joshua 3:10). When David confronts the giant Goliath, he is particularly incensed that the uncircumcised Philistine has defied “the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:26, 36). Likewise, Hezekiah appeals to Yahweh for deliverance when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, mocks “the living God” (2 Kings 19:4, 16). He pleads with Yahweh,

Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. (2 Kings 19:17–19)

King Darius, after being tricked into casting Daniel into the den of lions, calls Daniel the “servant of the living God” (Daniel 6:20). When he sees that God has preserved Daniel, he decrees that all peoples “tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end” (Daniel 6:26).

In the New Testament

In the New Testament, Paul echoes the prophets when he urges the inhabitants of Lystra to “turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them” (Acts 14:15).

However, we also discover some surprising things about the living God in the New Testament. He has a Son, as Peter confesses when Jesus asks who the disciples say that he is. “You are the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). More than that, the living God has a Spirit, as Paul testifies to the Corinthians: “You are a letter from Christ . . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Corinthians 3:3). The living God is the triune God, eternally subsisting in three persons.

The triune God also has a household, “the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). More than that, those of us who have set our hope on the living God as our Savior have now become the temple of the living God, in whom and with whom he dwells (2 Corinthians 6:16). We are the children of the living God, as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Hosea 1:10; Romans 9:26).

“Have you considered recently how wonderful it is to draw near to the God who exists, the God who is?”

And as such, we take care, lest there be in any of us an evil, unbelieving heart, leading us to fall away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12). Our consciences have been purified by the blood of Christ so that we no longer offer dead works, but instead serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). And one way or another, we will have to eternally face the living God. Either we will fall into the hands of the living God (a fearful and terrifying prospect, Hebrews 10:31), or we will come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and to his innumerable angels in festal gathering (Hebrews 12:22).

Longing for the Living God

But perhaps the most striking note about the living God is expressed twice in the Psalms. It is the note of longing after such a God.

As a deer pants for flowing streams,     so pants my soul for you, O God.My soul thirsts for God,     for the living God. (Psalm 42:1–2)

And then again, in Psalm 84:

How lovely is your dwelling place,     O Lord of hosts!My soul longs, yes, faints     for the courts of the Lord;my heart and flesh sing for joy     to the living God. (Psalm 84:1–2)

Have you considered recently how wonderful it is to draw near to the God who exists, the God who is? And more than that, to draw near to the God who lives and who is to us the fountain of life? We come to him to drink, to satisfy our souls with the greatest reward that he offers: himself.

Audio Transcript

How do I see the glory of Christ? This is a key question for everyone. We must see Christ’s glory. His glory is the epicenter, the engine, of the entire Christian life. We must see it and delight in it, because to not see Christ’s glory is to not be a believer. It’s that simple. The stakes are that high. And those high stakes are why we got this email from a listener named David. “Hello, Pastor John. I have a question for you,” he writes. “Your articles on what true saving faith is really opened my eyes to see what it is, and to see that I don’t have this. I don’t see Jesus as beautiful. I feel blind to his glory. How does one have his eyes opened? I know I can’t do anything. I am desperate. Can you help me?”

Let me try to clarify David’s reference to what I have said about the nature of saving faith.

Treasuring Trust

I believe the Bible teaches that saving faith is a trusting and treasuring of Jesus Christ that rises from a Spirit-given sight of the truth and greatness and beauty and worth of Jesus as we see him at work in the gospel.

“Saving faith sees Jesus as supremely desirable, supremely great, supremely beautiful.”

And what David rightly sees in this understanding of faith is that faith is not mere agreement with facts about Jesus, and it’s not a mere trust in Jesus to do for us things that even unbelievers want done. Saving faith does not receive Jesus merely as useful. Saving faith receives Jesus as himself, the greatest gift of the gospel. This means that saving faith sees Jesus as supremely desirable, supremely great, supremely beautiful, valuable, all of which the Bible sums up by saying that Jesus has divine glory.

So those words valuable, beautiful, great, desirable — they’re all subsumed I think in what the Bible means by glory. Saving faith is a treasuring trust in Jesus as more valuable, more beautiful, more satisfying than anything else.

Now, here’s a glimpse of this truth in 2 Corinthians 4:4: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Amazing! Let me say it again: “The gospel of the glory of Christ.” Paul is happy to sum up the gospel as “the gospel of the glory of Christ.” This is why David is right in his question when he says that we need to see the glory of Christ in order to have saving faith, because the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ.

So, I take David’s question very seriously. It is the right question to ask. “If I don’t see Christ as glorious, as supremely beautiful and valuable and satisfying, what should I do?” That’s his question.

God’s Glory in Creation

So let me come at it like this. Let me try to at least partially demystify the idea of God’s revealing his glory. Those very words may just sound like nonsense to some people.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Jeremiah 10:12 then puts meat on those bones: “It is [the Lord] who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.” And then Romans 1:20–21 says,

[God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not [glorify] him as God.

So, from these texts, I conclude that God has made visible his glory, his beauty, his power, his wisdom, his greatness, and his worth in the works of his hands, in nature. And it’s our obligation as humans to see this glory and recognize it as a manifestation of the beauty of God, the greatness of God, the worth of God, and not just the beauty and greatness and worth of stars.

And the reason I said that this is a demystification of the revelation of God’s glory is that, on the one hand, most of us catch on to the notion of glory as beauty and greatness and worth when we see the magnificence of the galaxies, and the power of a bolt of lightning, and the great sound of rolling thunder, and the majesty of soaring mountains. It’s not a complete mystery that such glory in nature is a revelation of God. Most people can catch on to that.

Christ’s Glory in the Gospels

But the reason it’s only a partial demystification is that apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, we won’t see this glory for what it really is — namely, God’s glory. So, if there is a partial clarification of the revelation of God’s glory by looking at nature, maybe David will be able to make the transition to the revelation of the glory of Christ in the inspired stories in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because that’s why they’re there.

This is why God inspired the writing of these stories, just as he put the stars in place. He inspired them so that glory would shine through — Christ’s glory. Here’s John 1:14 — this is why Christ walked the earth, and the Gospels were written to show him to us: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And when Jesus starts to do his work, John says in John 2:11, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”

So, John is showing us why his Gospel is written: to reveal the glory of Christ and awaken faith. It’s the gospel of the glory of Christ. And at the end of his life, Jesus prayed, “[Father,] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). That’s what his life and work were for: to reveal in himself, through himself, the glory of God. Or another way to say it is from John 20:31: “These things are written so that you may believe.” That’s what happens when you see the glory of Christ for what it really is — you believe!

Four Paths to Sight

So, David’s question is, “If Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers the way 2 Corinthians 4:4 says he does, and if we by nature are resistant to the beauty of God’s supremacy, what can we do?” What should he do? That’s what he’s asking. “Pastor John, tell me what I can do. Is there anything?” He says, “I can’t do anything,” but that’s not true. So, here are four things.

“As much as it lies within you, renounce your love affair with the glory that comes from people.”

First, as much as it lies within you, David, renounce your love affair with the glory that comes from people. Because Jesus said in John 5:44, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” It’s a great obstacle to love the glory of man. All of us are born loving the glory we get from other people. While that love is supreme in our hearts, we cannot believe. So, let’s renounce it. As much as it lies within you, say to God, “I’m done with it. I want to be done with it. Deliver me. I want to be free from this bondage to the love of human glory!”

Second, read and listen to the word of God as much as you can — especially the Gospels, since God inspired his word as a revelation of his glory. And he said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). This is true for the rest of our lives. Saving faith is awakened and saving faith is sustained by the word of God as long as we live.

Third, in all of your listening, in all of your reading, in all of your hearing, turn to Christ. Don’t just read passively. Don’t just read vaguely. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:16, “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” And he means the veil that keeps you from seeing the glory of Christ. Don’t just read and listen passively. Direct your heart as you read and listen to Christ and say, “Show me yourself, Christ! Show me yourself in your word. Show me that you are real. Show me your truth, and greatness, and beauty, and worth. Show me your glory!”

And then finally, fourth, in and through it all, pray that the eyes of your heart would be opened. Paul models this for us in Ephesians 1:18: “[I pray that] the eyes of your hearts [would be] enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.”

Arise and Go to Jesus

So those are four things, David: renounce pride, read the word, turn to Christ, and pray for sight. And I would just close with this. Maybe go online and get a copy of the song “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy,” and sing it or say it, especially this verse:

I will arise and go to Jesus;He will embrace me in his arms.In the arms of my dear Savior,Oh, there are ten thousand charms.