Jeremiah 29: 1-14

Endurance sustains courage. A burst of courage for fifteen minutes is good, but it is not enough to carry you through. Endurance gives staying power to discipline. It is important to understand delayed gratification and to make advance decisions, but these are not one-time actions. Endurance turns your vision into reality. Without it, visions are no more than pipe dreams.

• What’s the difference between "enduring" and "putting up with" something?

• Complete this sentence: What I find hardest to endure is ________ because _____________________________.

• When have you been glad you didn’t quit something?

Read Jeremiah 29: 1-14

1. Why would the exiles have been tempted to quit their faith?
2. We usually equate "endurance" with gritting your teeth and doing something unpleasant. What positive notes do you find in Jeremiah’s call for endurance?
3. In order to carry out the instructions in verse 7, what attitude toward their captors would the exiles have needed?
4. How might the false prophets and diviners have been discouraging the people from endurance (vv. 8-9)?
5. How do you feel "exiled" (or stuck) in a situation you’d rather not have to endure?
6. What hope do you find in the assurances of verses 10-14?

• What would be your "quitting point" in a situation you’re enduring now?

• What in that situation gives you hope to go on?