On Suffering: Survival or Perseverance?

I was recently speaking with someone who asked an extremely thoughtful question. The question concerned a Sunday evening Entrust stand-alone course titled “Surviving Suffering.” This talk was part of the 2026 summer series, “Biblical Wisdom for the Christian Life.”

The question was phrased as a kind-hearted concern rather than an interrogation. If I were to phrase this person’s concern as a query, I think it would sound something like this: “Suffering is indeed a reality of the Christian life. But through Christ, we are more than conquerors in our suffering (Romans 8:37). If surviving is used in the same sentence as suffering, aren’t we conveying the idea of ‘barely getting by’ while missing out on the hope and joy that we should be emphasizing?”

The Legitimacy of the Concern

This person’s concern is well-taken. For the Christian, the truth is that we are indeed more than conquerors through Christ in the midst of suffering and pain. Christ has objectively transformed evil and pain into glory. Nowhere is this clearer than in his crucifixion. Satan’s twisted pleasure at Jesus’s death was turned on its head when the death of Jesus resulted in the death of sin’s power and the resurrection of Jesus. We see this broader theme throughout Scripture as well. In Genesis, Joseph tells his brothers who had trafficked him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.” (Gen. 50:20, NLT) In the New Testament, the apostle Paul, speaking of the reality of suffering for the Christian, says, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long [in the scope of eternity]. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NLT) We want to convey this long-term hope for those who are followers of Jesus. After all, in the absence of hope, despair will fill the vacuum.

I also want to give three reasons why I think the concept of surviving suffering possesses some merit. I hope this comes across as more than semantics. Because words can be so powerful, it is necessary to ask what we mean by certain words and phrases. This is true in life in general. It’s true of our understanding of Scripture as well. We don’t want to simply know what the Bible says; we want to know what the Bible means. The reasons below are not in competition with “more than conquerors,” but rather seek to balance its use.

An Attainable Goal

First, for someone who is in the midst of intense suffering, “surviving” is often a more modest and attainable goal than “conquering.” By way of analogy, our family drives at least once a year to visit family in Texas. That destination is almost exactly one thousand miles. Even though I trust that we’ll reach that destination (after about seventeen straight hours on the road), I am usually not thinking as a “conqueror” at the beginning or middle of that drive. I’m too busy thinking, “Do we have enough snacks and drinks already in the car? Can we time things so that we’re not driving through Atlanta at rush hour? How many bathroom breaks will we take, can we PLEASE synchronize them with refilling the empty tank, and how much will that slow us down?” (The German efficiency in me dies hard.) At the beginning, my main objective is “Let’s just get to Georgia.” If I can “survive” the first leg of the trip, I’ll thankfully move on to “surviving” the next portion. And on and on from there. I’m thinking far more in terms of pacing than of conquering. By the time we’re in the middle of Louisiana, the subjective feeling of “conquering” is starting to catch up to the future reality that we’ll eventually make it all the way to Texas. Breaking the journey into smaller steps is psychologically more doable.

What People Mean

Second, surviving can be used as a synonym for persevering. I am not saying these are exactly the same thing, but my concern here is more pragmatic than technical. A dictionary search will show that “surviving” conveys the idea of simply enduring hardship, while “persevering” has the connotation of an active determination to move forward. However, in terms of how many individuals think, these two words overlap in meaning and are often considered quite similar. We need to be careful here. Definitions matter. They matter a lot. But suffering involves people, not just definitions. Language is used all the time without following clear rules of grammar. Therefore, we want to be wary of assuming from the outset that someone can’t be meaning perseverance when they use the word “survival.” Remember what I said earlier – with people (as well as with Scripture), we want to know not only what they are saying, but what they mean. A Christian might be thinking in terms of endurance and perseverance, while including “survival” in their vocabulary.

Perseverance is a rich biblical theme. Galatians 6:9 states, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (NLT) What does the apostle Paul’s wording imply? That it will be tempting to give up! He is saying, “Don’t give up. Keep going! It will be worth it!” Perseverance involves straining, or it would not be perseverance. Jesus’s half-brother James says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12, NIV) Paul and James are, so to speak, looking forward, grabbing the hope that is ours because of eternity with Jesus, and inserting that back into the present difficulties that we face. But what we hope for is still unseen. This gospel reality has been described by theologians as already, not yet. “Already” conveys the wonderful truth that our salvation and eternity with Christ have already been secured because of Jesus’s death and resurrection. “Not yet” conveys the notion that the consummation of where history is headed with the new heavens and the new earth has not yet happened (hence why suffering still exists). Scripture says it was the coming joy that led Jesus to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:2), but the night of his arrest, Scripture also tells us that Jesus was in such agony in his spirit that he sweated great drops of blood and asked the Father to remove the coming suffering (Luke 22:42-44). “More than conquerors” was no less an objective fact for Jesus at this moment, but – if I may put it this crudely – had a disciple told Jesus in this moment that he was “more than a conqueror,” I don’t believe this comment would have fit the occasion. This is an example of how I believe the differences between “surviving” and “persevering” flatten a bit in their actual usage by many Christians. Jesus was enduring/persevering (i.e., looking forward in a determined fashion) in obedience to the Father, but I don’t think it is going too far to say that this also looked like “surviving” (e.g., “Father, take this cup from Me.”).

Stepping Into Their Story

Third, for someone currently experiencing suffering, it may indeed feel that “surviving” better fits their experience than “conquering” in a given moment. To use a literary metaphor, that person is in the middle of their story. “And they lived happily ever after” is coming, but it’s still a long way off. “We are more than conquerors” is an objective fact – and one that we consistently need to hold in our mind – but not one that we’ll fully realize until the end of the story. This eternal hope must not be forgotten, but there must be a sense of proportionality that makes space for the effects of suffering as well. “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Rom. 12:15, NIV)  Proverbs 25:20 says, “Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound.” (NLT) Notice that our relation to time plays a role. If we go back to the metaphor of my family’s road trip to Texas, prior to the strain of the journey, it might be easier to think as a “conqueror.” After the journey is complete, this will be a no-brainer; I’ve reached the joy of the other side. But during the journey, my being “more than a conqueror” may look and sound like survival mode. This is similar to how we relate to suffering and sufferers. We prepare for suffering before the suffering hits. We learn about how to endure little by little with joy in Christ. But when suffering does hit a fellow believer, how I talk to the average Christian in the midst of suffering will sound very different from how I talk to them before or after suffering. I will still believe that they are objectively “more than conquerors” because of Jesus, but I will also likely not protest them if their countenance and speech convey a difficulty with looking more than one day ahead (i.e., surviving). In all likelihood, I will let that go.

To his three friends who tried to explain the reason for his suffering, Job said, “Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind?” (Job 6:26, ESV) In other words, Job admits that his words in the midst of pain will be blown away. His world was dark. He couldn’t see any light, and he knew this was affecting what came out of his mouth. Job seems to acknowledge that his own words leading up to this point were not theologically accurate. And he’s not saying that his friends’ points were factually wrong. But Job was asking his friends not to be picky about his language when he was in pain. Part of mourning with those who mourn is to “sit” with them in their pain (in the middle of the story) and not to rush them too quickly to the good part (at the end of the story). This is partly what Job’s three friends got wrong. What we’re describing about the joy at the story’s end is true, and the motivation for wanting them to experience that joy is understandable. But if we do this too quickly in an effort to be “theologically accurate,” our rightness wouldn’t necessarily equal good or beneficial.

Conclusion

Again, I believe “more than conquerors” and “surviving” do not need to be in competition with each other (especially if “surviving” is used largely as a synonym for “perseverance” or “endurance”). They describe different parts of the same big picture. It’s likely also true that because “surviving” is a term used more in the secular world than in the Bible (whose closest vocabulary is the idea of perseverance and endurance), many of us are understandably cautious about its use. I believe we can be discerning while appreciating the nuances of how some words can have a range of functional meanings. We can encourage others to persevere in the midst of suffering, even if an active determination to move forward is the last thing that seems to describe them in the moment. These kinds of conversations (the one sparked by the initial question I received) are a gift from God, sharpening our thinking and deepening our gratitude for Scripture’s richness and the perspectives we each bring.