Perseverance

 


            “Take me out, Coach.  I’m no good!”  My heart went out to the 13-year-old pitcher who stepped off the mound and begged the Coach to replace him.  There’s no question that he was having a bad day.  He had walked several and even hit a few batters.  He couldn’t seem to get the other team out no matter how hard he tried.

            The game was close and if he kept walking batters, or hitting them, there was little doubt that his team would lose.  Fortunately, for him that day, he had a coach (who just happened to be my nephew) who knew that there were more important things than winning and losing.  Sometimes you just have to persevere!

            If we gave up every time life got hard, we would never accomplish much.  We would never know what could have been.  If Lincoln had quit after losing several elections, we would never have known one of the greatest presidents in our country’s history.  If Edison had given up after numerous failures at producing the electric light bulb, we might still be in the dark.  If Wilbur and Orville had given up after their first failed attempts at flying, we might never have learned to fly the friendly skies.

            What’s your response when life gets hard?  Do you want to crawl away and hide, or do you take your frustration out on other people?  We all have those days, or sometimes seasons, when it seems there is no light at the end of the tunnel, except for the proverbial train.  It’s at that time when we are reminded that God is with us no matter what the challenge and He often uses those difficult seasons to mature us.  That’s what perseverance is all about. 

            Giving up is easy.  Hanging in there when all odds seem to be against you is not.  On that day, that young man was forced to persevere.  His Coach’s response to his request was “You’ve got this.  Suck it up and do it!”  The young man stayed in the game, finally retired the other team, and his team came through to win the game.  Even if they hadn’t won, he would have still learned a valuable lesson that day.  He learned to persevere!

            Persevering from my porch!

James 1:12

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