Chapter 4
PERSERVERANCE
“Talent was nothing till he married perseverance”
A seed once planted doesn't grow and mature in a day. No matter how good the grade of the seed was, it wont mature in two weeks. You can bear me witness that those chicks that mature in 5 weeks don't taste as sweet as those indigenous chicken that take a longer time to mature.
Many of us confess that we lack patience. Did you know that this is why we are always disappointed? We expect something to work out the soonest possible. We want it and we want it now. Everything needs time to mature. Unfortunately we don't have full control of this point in the process. Fortunately, someone bigger is in control and this is the reason we shouldn't be afraid.
Sometimes we may lose but don't be discouraged. Fix your eyes on the goal. If you lose the first time, be willing to get up and start again. Remember that the basic fact is that, you are already promised the victory if you keep on trying. In the midst of perseverance, challenges will give up.
Let me show you this. When a river is flowing down its path, it has the aim of getting to its place of supplying (maybe an ocean or a lake or a bigger river). On its way down the slope, it meets several challenges and one of them is the rocks either on its way or lying under it.
Basically the rock is far stronger or tougher to split than water. Let us say that in comparison to the rock, water seems weaker. But then, this being a challenge, this water never quits. It never stops flowing due to the setbacks on its way to achieving its goals. Neither does it change course. Sometimes it makes a temporary turn but at the point of the challenge. It looks for other ways to achieve its goals but it never gives up on the course.
Every moment it keeps on trying to move the rock but never stops there to quit. As it keeps on trying, it may take a long time but it eventually manages to chip off the rock little by little and eventually breaks the rock off. Also in the example of a well plastered dry floor, if you poured a tank of water on it, it may as well spill all over it but wont break it. But then if you made a tiny hole (small one) in the roof and when it rained, some drops fell on the same point everyday. After several days or months you'll notice that it has made a dent into the plaster. Why do you think that happened? Do you think that water became stronger with time? No! Water won the fight in both cases just because of perseverance. It persevered; it never quit.
I heard another example from my Pastor that really challenged me and this is what he told me. He had a child who always wanted to climb to the chair and then alight. She didn't have a reason but she only needed to do it and feel good. Unfortunately she was a little short to climb on her own. She cried to her dad to lift her up onto the seat and he did it once. The following day she came and asked for the same but this time her dad said no. He told her to find a way that she could do it on her own. After crying and seeing that nobody really was helping, she took it upon herself and started working on it every other day. She kept on trying and many times she hurt herself trying to do that. What she didn't know is that as she was trying and trying she was also growing and eventually a day came when she was able to climb up and down with ease.
Whenever a challenge faces you, remember that no matter how big it looks like, take one step at a time. So long as you never quit, one day you shall discover that what you call a challenge today was only allowing you the chance to outgrow it. Remember that the only way you can eat a whole elephant is by taking one bite at a time.
Be disciplined and be determined. Discipline is the ability to do what you are expected or supposed to do while determination is feeling like giving up or finding it hard but doing it anyway. This being the most challenging step in the process to get anything that you want, you need to remind yourself of where you are going. Take time to think. Wake up at night and learn to ask God for answers. If you've prayed about it, learn to listen.
Sometimes we are too busy talking on phone with God until he cant talk back to us. Anyway, if you keep on talking and talking on phone how do you expect the other person to talk back to you. Sometimes take time to listen. I have heard God speak to me in a still small voice and opened to me things that I never thought of before. He is thinking about you and wants you to listen to him for strength in time of challenges.