Perseverance Restores (Bot9 #340)
A year ago, our Girls Volleyball team went through a difficult period. This summer, our Cross Country team went through a hard time. Over the past three weekends, those two groups have earned state titles. The volleyball team capped an undefeated run to the state championship with a win on Saturday night having dropped only four sets all season (80-4 overall). The boys group of runners won the team state title, while the girls saw an individual win the individual state championship and setting a course record. The boys placed three runners in the top ten and the girls had two finish in the top three. It was an extraordinary season for both, and it came after some significant, separate trials.
Those with the wisdom of experience know that no difficulty will last forever. In the midst of that battle, when the shots are being fired in all directions around you, it’s easy to feel like life will never return to normal. When we feel like we cannot overcome, we may think about quitting or choose to walk away. And, the fact of the matter is that some do. Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Former Presidential candidate Ross Perot reiterated the same idea when he said, “Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.” Because we would rather have things easy, we melt at the first sign of resistance.
But the Bible is clear in its encouragement to us in the face of trials. Failure or difficulty will often lead to success in some form when we choose to persevere. We are to greet those trials with gratitude. It is the world of instant gratification that misleads us into believing that things are just to be easy, or that things will just happen because chooses to bless some and not others. There’s a deep engagement that occurs when we embrace Romans 5:3-4, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
I’ve walked this road of perseverance and it’s made all the difference. I wonder if this is the road less traveled Robert Frost referred to in his poem. We went through a lot of challenges personally in 2005 only to experience extraordinary joy and blessing in 2006. Ten years later, at a different place, we went through another hard season only to experience some of the highest highs in 2016. Then, 2017-2020 became a third walk in the desert and now I’m walking in some of the most favor the Lord has ever presented. One of my favorite verses is Job 42:12. It’s at the end of the book (the oldest book in the Bible, I might add) after recounting the entirety of Job’s journey. The verse says, “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” Job was the most righteous, upstanding man in the land and his former life had many blessings. But after hitting the lowest of lows, Job experiences more blessing. When we face difficulty, we have to hold on to this possibility. It’s not a promise, but a possibility of hope.
This is who God is, how He is at work in the world, and representative of the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we lean into hope and have faith that God may do for us and He did for Job, walking in the desert becomes tolerable for a moment. Even Jesus walked in the desert before His ministry opens. If you’ve never received abundant blessing, keep leaning in. If you have and you’re going through difficulty, lean in again. If your life is full of trials and challenges, keep going to the One who walked in the flesh in Israel who died and rose again. Perseverance restores. The road less traveled is difficult, but it may end up in a glimpse of beauty and perfection on this earth like those young champions got to experience this year. Regardless, we know that it will end in unmatched eternal glory. May we persevere until then.