I have always been intrigued by Super Heroes and their Super Powers.  Who hasn’t,  at some point, wanted to be able to fly or have super strength? There have been so many times in my life where I felt like if I just had some sort of super power I could fix this or get out of this hole.  No matter how hard I focused or believed, I could never seem to summon a Super Power.  Recently while reading the bible I discovered something that I believe will change your view of what a Super Power really is.  Let’s start with this:

Thanks Marvel and DC Comics

We think of Super Powers as Flying, Super Strength, Shooting Fire from your fingers and other things brought to our collective conscience by Marvel and DC Comics.  All of which are Awesome and have fueled children’s  (and children at heart) daydreams for years.  To get a better understanding of Super Powers lets look at what the “word people” have to say about Super Powers.

Dictionary.com defines a Super power like this

SuperPower: power  greater in scope or magnitude than that which is considered natural or has previously existed.

What is interesting to me about this definition is that is pretty much says that Super Powers are unnatural.  I don’t know about you but Super Man seemed to be quite a natural at flying and shooting laser beams out of his eyes, at least to me.  Of course that was comic books and “Hollowood” (yeah I meant to say that).  In real life we tend to look at certain people in our lives as being “Super Heroes” but not necessarily having Super Powers.   I think that it IS possible for us to attain Super Powers.

This is the beginning of a series of posts that I will call Secret Super Powers.  As of right now I truly believe that there are 5 Secret Super Powers that are outlined for us. These are not commonly thought of as Super Powers, but when applying the actual definition of a Super Power to these I think it will change your mind and possibly your life if you really let it.

Super Power #1 – Perseverance

Our first Super Power is found in James 1:2-4

“² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” 

Now when I first read this verse I thought, “Yeah right! Who in their right mind would find joy in trials, or temptations or hard times?”  I don’t know about you but the last time I was faced with struggles I wasn’t saying , “Thank you sir, may I have another?”  I was more like, “What is happening? When will this be over?”.  I think it is natural for us to recognize trouble, take cover and weather the storm until it is safe to come out.  So you want a Super Power? Do what is not natural, Persevere!  Persevere comes from the Latin root word, perseverare, with per meaning “through” and severus meaning “severe.” So perseverance means that you are going THROUGH something SEVERE. This Super Power is mentioned almost 28 times throughout the bible in the NIV. In every verse it is praised as something powerful. Just saying.

Now there is a difference between Persevering and Enduring.  To endure something means that you have accepted the current situation and are willing to suffer it until it passes.  This would be a “passive” thing. Therefore, Enduring is passive.  Persevering means that you are pushing through. You are actively removing yourself from the trial. Therefore, Perseverance is active.  I do not believe that Perseverance is natural.  I believe that true perseverance can only be granted to you by GOD which makes it Super Natural!  It is a Super Power that can truly change your life.  Next time you are in a situation that seems hopeless, ask GOD for the Super Power of Perseverance!

Stay tuned for Super Power #2. Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment below and let me know your experiences with this Super Power.