Perseverance: God's Will for You

Webster’s Definition:  Continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition
Wow…I don’t know about you but that describes more than one area of my life right now and over the past few weeks I have gained great comfort in understanding that as I pray for Gods Will that his will is for me to persevere. 
Let me share a great story with you on perseverance that I learned from my 14 year old daughter this week.  Over Christmas Break she had a pretty tough basketball tournament and was disappointed in how she performed.  We went to the gym later and worked on a few things and had fun hanging out.  During this time together she shared her discouragement that her shot wasn’t falling and that she hadn’t hit a “3” all season.  I tried hard to give her some sound advice such as it will fall, hang in there, but in the mean time step up and hit the open jump shots, free throws and layups.  This was intended to be encouraging, but at the same time I knew these were higher percentage shots not just for her but any player.  She listened and agreed but still insisted that her “3’s” should be falling, and it was obvious she had her mind and heart set on this.
First game back after the break she persevered!  She hit 5/8 from 3 point land and finished with 18 points, her best game of the season!  If she had taken my advice she wouldn’t have shot the “3” after her first attempt didn’t go in, but she kept shooting and because of that look what happened.
I’m not sure what it is in your life right now that represents that “3” point shot, but whatever it is Gods will is for you to persevere.  In Nehemiah 4:6  “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.”  This is a great example of perseverance as the people didn’t lose faith or give up what God had called them to do as they had their hearts and minds set on accomplishing this task. 
We might be in some real opposition right now with our job or job search, a relationship with a friend, family member, spouse, etc whatever it is the example set is to stay focused on the task even in the face of opposition and/or discouragement.
“The Greatest thing that will ever happen to you or through you will be birthed out of adversity.” Chip Ingram
This quote speaks volumes as it reminds us to hang in there and if we are honest with ourselves as we look back we can probably see some things we gave up on too early and had we just hung in there great things were just around the corner.
Let’s not quit on those “3’s” in our life too soon and remember God's Will is for us to persevere.
In Christ,
Matthew Likens

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tested

"He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." John 6:1-13 Test day. I remember all too well the feelings of discomfort connected to that expression from my school days. I was so thankful the last time I had to take one. Tests felt so much like a cruel game of, "Guess What I'm Thinking?" with the author of the test. During one particularly grueling test, I noticed one of my classmates cheating like there was no tomorrow. Predictably, he aced it and I let's just say, didn't. It occurred to me later that I was actually being tested in two different ways that day. By God's grace alone, I passed them both. Philip was in the hot seat that day. Jesus, out of the twelve disciples, decided to single him out for testing. From all appearances, there was a massive resource shortage. Five thousand men plus women and children all hungry up against whatever money Judas had in the money bag. Philip was apparently incredulous as he emphaticall
Read more

Nothing Left

"'What do you mean what's the matter?' Micah replied. 'You've taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!" Judges 17, 18 Unaware of some purchases that my wife had made earlier in the day, I didn't even hesitate to use my debit card at the checkout line. However, our bank was fully aware of all those purchases as well as the one I was attempting to make at the present moment. Clearly, the math didn't add up. Something from nothing is something less than nothing and that, as it turns, is frowned upon by our aforementioned bank. In short, the bank told the merchant there was nothing left and the merchant told me, "Declined." Micah was one panicked individual. His personal little self-directed and self-centered religion was coming apart at the seams. He had idols. He had priests. He had a shrine and even a sacred ephod (a priestly garment). All this, he thought, secured the LORD's blessing. When the warri
Read more

Who is Jesus?

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15, 16 NIV) What are your thoughts about Jesus? Every major religion on earth has an opinion on who he was. Mostly they say that he was a good man, a powerful teacher, and a peacemaker. All of that is true. But what about him being the Son of God? Peter, after being with Jesus non-stop for 4 years was confident of his identity. He was assured that Jesus was God in the flesh, the Messiah that was to come. You essentially have three options when it comes to what you believe about Jesus: 1) He was a Liar 2) He was a Lunatic (out of his mind) 3) Or that He was Lord If he was, and is, Lord, then he deserves our worship and our entire lives. If Jesus is Lord, it is true that we have access to God by His sacrifice on the cross. Join us Friday night at 7, as we reflect on Jesus going to the cross for the sins of the entire world (Good Frida
Read more