GREEK STUDY: ὙΠΟΜΟΝΗ

GREEK STUDY, ὙΠΟΜΟΝΗ: ὑπομονή, hypomonē hoo-pom-on-AY The KJV translates it “patience.” English has almost ruined that word. We hear patience and think traffic lights, long lines, and trying not to lose our temper. The Greek is carrying a lot more weight than that. Hypomonē means endurance. Steadfastness. Staying power. Remaining under pressure without folding. The word carries the idea of staying under the load instead of crawling out from underneath it. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” James 1:3 KJV Trials produce hypomonē. God isn’t teaching you how to sit quietly in a waiting room. He’s putting steel in your spine. James keeps going. “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:4 KJV Don’t climb off the workbench halfway through the job. Some things God builds in us only get built under pressure. Paul says the same thing. “Tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.” Romans 5:3 through 4 KJV Tribulation makes hypomonē. That pressure isn’t pointless. It leaves a man with something he didn’t have before. He knows what it is to be squeezed and still find God faithful on the other side. Hebrews uses the same word. “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 KJV Run with hypomonē. A race was never supposed to be comfortable. At some point your legs burn, the road gets long, and quitting starts sounding reasonable. Keep moving. Jesus used the same word when He described good soil. “Having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15 KJV Fruit comes with hypomonē. That ought to change the way we look at some unanswered prayers. We keep asking God to take the weight off while He may be using the weight to make us stronger. Hypomonē is faith that learned how to carry weight without dropping Christ. That’s a much better word than patience. #MoreJoyMinistries