Part 1 in a Series on Persistence
There would be a large pile of crumpled sheets of paper laying at my
feet right now, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m writing on my computer.
Thankfully, words aren’t as hard to erase these days as they can sometimes be
to write.
This article is about persistence. And the funny thing is, it has proven
to be such a challenge to write that I’ve almost given up on it several times.
But every time I go to move on to something else, an old saying pops into my
head:
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
It’s a good rule. One that applies not only to writing but to every
task, from schoolwork to prayer. It’s called persistence.
What is Persistence?
Or we could say, “what does it mean to persist?”
Mirriam Webster’s Dictionary, defines ‘to persist’
as “to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or
warning; to remain unchanged or fixed in a specified character, condition, or position.”
But persistence seems to be a concept that is more easily understood by
illustration than by definition. Perhaps that is why Jesus often spoke about
persistence in and through parables like this one:
“And [Jesus] said to them, “Which of you shall have
a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three
loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing
to set before him’; and
he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut,
and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to
you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet
because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.”
(Luke xi. 5-8, nkjv)
The Command to Persist
It seems as though everything God tells us to do comes with the
additional command to persist in it. For example, on the subject of prayer Luke
xviii. 1-7 says,
“Then [Jesus] spoke a
parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:
“There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now
there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for
me from my adversary.’ And
he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do
not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ” Then
the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His
own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?”
On the subject of
knowing Him, God says in Jeremiah xxix.13
“And you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
When it comes to
fighting this spiritual battle we are in, Romans vi.13 tells us,
“Therefore, take up
the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.”
And Proverbs xxiv.16
tells us,
“For the righteous
falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of
calamity.”
Those are just a few
of many, many examples.
Is Persistence a Good Thing?
I kind of gave away the answer with all those verses. But I want us to
take some time to think about that question because, while the Bible speaks of
persistence as a good thing, in practice we often perceive it as bad.
Let’s take for example a habit that a lot of little children have. A
habit called nagging. The child asks for something and if he or she doesn’t get
an answer, or if they don’t get the answer they want, they ask again. And
again. And again, and again, and again. We aren’t too fond of that habit in
children. It’s annoying. It’s rude. It’s…bad. Or is it?
Let me ask you another question: What is the first thing you think when
you are told to persist in a difficult situation? How about when you are
attempting to write an article that you would really rather give up on but you
can’t stop thinking of that saying, ‘if at first you don’t succeed try, try
again.’
I’ll tell you what my first thought was: “How many times do you try
again? Once? Twice? Three hundred times?”
When God tells us to persist, be it in prayer, battling sin and the
flesh, witnessing, or studying His word our response is often something
similar.
How long do you expect me to persist? How many times am I going to have
to knock on this door?
That seems to be our human nature. We don’t enjoy difficulty. Honestly,
we would like to avoid it at all costs. It doesn’t take much for us to give up,
so when persistence comes into the picture it’s like a lock just got placed on
our emergency exit. Which is another reason why we generally aren’t too fond of
it.
But what if persistence isn’t meant to be the lock that stops us from
escaping a burning building? What if we’ve got persistence all wrong?
Why We Persist and How
Persist is a verb.
Think about that for a minute.
It’s an action word.
It’s not just the
absence of something. To persist isn’t only to NOT give up, NOT quit, or NOT
leave a difficult situation. That is where the mistaken idea of the locked
escape door comes from. Truly, persistence is more than just staying inside the
building even though it’s on fire.
It’s an action. It’s a
choice. And like most actions and choices there is a reason behind it.
So instead of
comparing persistence to the locked emergency exit. Let’s imagine for a second
that the door is wide open. You could get out of that burning building. You can
escape but…
There’s a child still
inside who needs to be rescued. In this scenario something is still preventing
you from leaving the building and yet your attitude towards it is entirely
different. You aren’t being forced to stay in a bad situation just because,
rather you are choosing to endure the fire in order to try to save a life.
You want to stay.
Persistence is that desire to continue.
Going back to our
question with this new perspective, let me ask you again: How many times do you
try again? For how long do you persist?
True persistence means trying again and again and again. Not once, not
three hundred times, but until you succeed. That’s not because you have to, but
because you want to.
It’s like that child
who is nagging. No one is forcing them to nag, and in fact, most parents are
trying hard to teach them not to nag. But they keep it up because they are
motivated to persist. They desperately want to succeed and get what they are
asking for. They’re convinced that if they just ask one more time they’ll get
what they’re after. Those kids don’t find persistence hard because their eyes
are set on a goal.
So, in this Christian
life we live, what is our goal? Why would we persist in prayer, in fighting
against sin, in seeking God?
In Philipians iii.12
Paul wrote, “I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has
also laid hold of me.”
James i.12 says,
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood
the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who
love him.”
If you are going to persist, or
to press on as Paul says, you need to know why. We have been given an abundance
of promises, a rich inheritance in Christ, but most of all we have been given
God Himself. Apparently, He thought this article on persistence would be a good
opportunity for me to learn some persistence, and I’m so glad He did! Because
persistence isn’t just important when it comes to writing, it is needed in the
pursuit of Him. And if He isn’t a goal worth pursuing with persistence, I don’t
know what is.
In
Christ
quiana
P.s. I didn’t get to any historical stories this time
around, but stay tuned. This was just the intro. In the next few posts we’ll be
looking at how we apply persistence to a few different spiritual tasks and
we’ll get to learn from the examples of Christians who have!
