One of the things that I love about any testimony, no matter how amazing or how much of a visible transformation there is, are the guys who are often in the background, never giving up. They knew that what the person really needed was Jesus and they stuck at it, often for years without seeing any results.
It’s easy to want to give up. Sometimes I don’t feel like doing the unselfish thing. I want to just lie on the couch and watch TV. I don’t want to do one more thing today. I don’t want to handle another problem. But just because I don’t feel like it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it.
Sometimes I don’t feel like praying or reading my Bible. But I do it. I’ve found that if the only time I pray is when I feel like it, the devil makes sure I never feel like it. If the only time I read my Bible is when I feel like it, the devil makes sure I never feel like it. Maturity is when you live your life by your commitments, not by your feelings.
Often the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people don’t feel like doing. They develop habits. They stay committed. You don’t get to the Olympics because you feel like it. You get to the Olympics through hours and hours of training that you didn’t feel like doing. You don’t get to become a master musician without hours and hours of rehearsal that you probably didn’t feel like doing all the time.
In the same way, you don’t become a godly man by simply doing what you feel like doing. Godly men choose to develop the habits that produce godliness in their lives. It’s not any easier than working out or dieting or rehearsing or anything else that may be good for you but you don’t feel like doing.
But the big question is how do we develop this kind of persistence? I believe the key is to not to look at your problem or the challenge but at God. One of the greatest examples in the Bible of persistence and not giving up can be seen in the life of Moses.
Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the Promised Land, a job he didn’t really want in the first place. 10 times he had to ask Pharaoh to let his people go before he finally agreed, only for him to change his mind and send his army after them.
I don’t know about you but I think would be tempted to give up after 4 or 5 attempts!
Then of course God parts the Red Sea and allows them to finally escape and reach the desert. For 40 years, he led a group of crying, squabbling, complaining babies around the desert while they questioned his leadership the entire time. Yet he never gave up.
And let’s not forget that this adventure started when Moses was 80 years old!
I love what Hebrews 11:27 says about Moses, “It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king’s anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back”. Moses “saw the invisible God.” He kept his eyes fixed firmly on God and stuck to the task that God entrusted in him.
So I want to encourage you to think of the guys in your life who need to know Jesus and start praying for them. Seek opportunities to share the Gospel with them and most importantly never, ever give up. Who knows what God will do with that life!
Image credit: Photo by Quinn Dombrowski / CC BY 2.0
