I Ate A Blueberry Today

I ate a blueberry today.

It’s a big deal because…I hate most fruit.

(Yes, I know. I know. But the texture and tart or tang overwhelms me!)

I read recently that if you eat something you don’t like 8 times, you’ll stop feeling so strongly about it. So I ate one blueberry per day for 8 days. Guess what?

Now, I’m used to them. Dare I say, I kind of like blueberries now.

This is a simple and sort of silly example of something the Lord has been showing me more profoundly:

Perseverance isn’t just about surviving something; it’s about re-shaping you.

We tend to think of endurance as what we go through to get to another season or circumstance. But it’s actually what we grow through as we follow Christ and become more like Him in every season and circumstance. Even the ones we wish would end. 

God transforms our perspective and refines our character as we faithfully, repetitively encounter things we find challenging. 

If you are coming up against something difficult again and again, take note. God isn’t “getting you used to” suffering for the sake of it; He is working through it to form you into a new creation day by day, challenge by challenge. 

God works through perseverance to…

Change your perspective not only on the situation but on who God is and who you are. You are reminded of your need for Him, of how good eternity with Jesus will be, and you also learn things about yourself…like that you can change!

Open you to growing in Christlikeness in other ways. We see this in Romans 5:3-5 and 2 Peter 1:5-8, where perseverance is listed as part of a character-forming chain reaction.

Transform you into someone mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:3-4.) You become more steadfast, quicker to rely on God’s provision, more certain of His sustaining power in your life and in others.

I’m grateful that persevering through eating a blueberry a day for 8 days has changed me into someone who likes them…but I’m all the more grateful for the ways the Lord makes me more like Jesus as I persevere in reliance on Him through much greater trials! 

**Bonus story: I wrote this a while ago. Not long after, my diet had to change for medical reasons and blueberries became one of the few sweet treats I could eat. God knew and prepared me!**