Persistence

The third of three boys, my youngest grandson is always trying to keep up with his big brothers, and he has more try than anybody I know. It started at a very early age, evident even as he began to learn to walk. Before his legs could keep up with his brain, he would trip and stumble and fall . . . repeatedly! But it never kept him down. Back up he would climb, trying again . . . and again . . . and again. The goose egg on his head was testament to his encounter with the corner of the coffee table. The bruise on his cheek came from the tile flooring by the patio door. Yet, despite all the failed attempts, the frustrations, the injuries, he kept on trying.

It was at this very time, as he was learning to walk, that I began my jail ministry. I had had a particularly rough week, feeling as though I was completely inadequate. I didn’t know how to answer their questions, I didn’t know enough Scripture, I still failed to love them unconditionally, I found myself judging . . . again. There was a voice in my head telling me to just give up! I was probably doing more harm than good. They would be better off without my visits to the jail.

I was listening to that voice as I watched my tenacious grandson take a particularly tough spill and crack his forehead on the coffee table . . . again. As I watched him determinedly get back up, I heard another voice. It was saying, “Get back up! Go back in. Just as he keeps getting better, you will get better too. Someday he will be running! So will you. Get up, my daughter.” I’m not saying it was an audible voice. It was a whisper of the Spirit to my wounded soul. And with it came this dawning realization that I wanted to run!

I thought about what would happen if my grandson just gave up. I had this ridiculous image in my head of a 15-year-old crawling around the living room. Too timid to get up and try to walk. Too afraid of failure. Too afraid of getting hurt. What would he miss?! No tag, no baseball, no football. Can you just imagine him crawling down the aisle on his wedding day?! It seemed so silly, but without a little try—without persistence—that’s where he would end up.

Another dawning realization was that, for these many years in my spiritual walk, I had actually been crawling. I am so grateful for my little grandson’s unintentional witness. I resolved to keep trying. I would get better. I might fail. I might “crack my head on the coffee table.” But I would just get up and try again. I didn’t want to miss out on what God had planned for me. I wanted to run!

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the

will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Hebrews 10:36 NIV

 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great

cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything

that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked

out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,

 the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Hebrews 12:1-2a NIV

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance, character; and character, hope.” 

Romans 5:3-4 NIV

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth

by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind

of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people

in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love,

we will grow to become in every respect the mature body

of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV