I grew up on stories of resilience. I heard my parents’ stories, how they walked miles to get to school each morning up and down the steep hills of Pittsburgh through snow and rain and blistering conditions. They recounted my maternal great-grandmother’s perseverance as she worked to integrate the local school system. They shared stories of the patriotism of my grandfathers who served in World War II and returned home to fight national wars against inequality. These were the legends of my ancestors who pressed through the difficulties for the sake of a better life for themselves and subsequent generations. While they battled larger systemic challenges like Jim Crow and economic barriers on the outside, some stories were as small as overcoming self-doubt on the inside.
The climax of these stories was never a point of pain or oppression, but the deep resolve and transformative resilience that kept them going when others quit. I learned that tenacity is a product of steeled, stubborn, seed-like faith that blossoms over time. These stories were more than personal narratives passed down to my generation. Their inner resolve was a family heritage meant to teach, but it was more than that: Resilience was a central part of our shared Christian faith.
This perseverance is available to every believer. The writer of Hebrews likens the life of faith to a race, reminding us that we are to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (12:1–2). With our gaze on God’s glory and our faces focused on the Savior, we can have faith to envision what the world cannot see, so that we may travel farther than others could ever imagine.
This kind of faith is far from a sprint. The tenacity to keep going grows resilience, but never resilience for its own sake. It is only when we fix our eyes on Jesus that we’ll have the resolve to keep placing one foot in front of the other. No matter the cost. No matter the systemic or individual challenges. No matter how often the gates of hell try to overcome the Christian or the church (Matt. 16:18). Jesus has defeated even death! His resurrection testifies that death does not have the final say. In his resurrection power, the order of things has changed. Now that sin and death have lost their sting, restoration and revival might speak words of fortitude and triumph.
The magazine you hold bears witness to this divine reality. Over Christianity Today’s seven decades, our leaders wanted to quit at times. There were seasons of challenge and negative opinion. There were countless days where the solutions to problems were not easy to find. The cultural headwinds were sometimes against them, and yet, through Christ, they survived. So it is for all of us: Our individual and corporate lives testify to God’s faithfulness.
I invite you to reflect on your own stories as you lean into the ones we share in these pages. Remember the resilience of generations past and find hope in the grace that is accessible to all through Jesus. When you do, I believe you’ll find that God is stronger in you than you could ever be on your own.
Nicole Massie Martin is president & CEO of Christianity Today.
