“…for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” (Matthew 6:6 NLT)
With an absence of a broadcast notification or a call from the school, an elementary student heads out to school on a day where the lake effect snow was so deep that it seemed to swallow her rubber snow boots. It is one of those dark early mornings that covered the sky and stars. Streetlights were randomly located, not close enough to overcome the dominance of night. It was as if the darkness was a rebelling remnant of the evening before and it had a strong stubborn demeanor, unwilling to surrender to the fact that its’ shift was over as it presented an unrelenting blockade to even one single beam of sunlight. Missing were the other children that usually walked the same path at the same time each and every day. Still, the student persisted in her determination to make it to school on time. The strong wind appeared to want to help the student get to her destination quicker than normal. While the help of the strong gale was a generous gesture, it generally just gave the girl another difficult obstacle to deal with. Still, the student persisted. With the exception of a few vehicles struggling through the snow-packed streets, the only sounds were the unidentifiable, loud, and sometimes scary noises that came from nearby steel mills. Fear, natural when you seem to be the only one facing the conditions she faced, and not knowing if any dangers were lurking nearby, caused the little girl to fret. But you know what? Still she persisted in her determination to make it to school on time. Once she finally got to her school, a school administrator approached her as soon as her feet finally were able to stand on a dry surface and a sigh of relief was released. The sigh of relief was put on pause instantly when the administrator informed her, “There is no school today.” You should have seen the disappointed look on the face of the young student. The change in her countenance could not be contained. The administrator knows she is dreading the walk back home and not only commends her for her persistence, but provides her with transportation home.
What conditions did you wake up to this morning? Will there be any obstacles you will have to face? Will any emotional, psychological, social, physical, spiritual issues show up to steal your drive? Or will you have to deal with your personal, internal, actual resistance to having to trod through another day, regardless of the weather? What will you do? Will you persevere? Will you remain steadfast? Are you going to let anything hold you back or are you going to show persistence and overcome any type of obstacle that confronts you? Will you take on an “I can” attitude or a “just can’t attitude?” Will you look at your conditions and say, “I’m more than a conqueror?” Or will your enthusiasm be conquered, your energy compromised, and your excitement canceled and instead you will see another day dampened? Let’s hope not! Let’s hope that you take on the persistence demonstrated by the little girl whose experience is described above, or better yet, look at the persistence of the woman in Jesus’ story below. Apply His teaching specifically to praying with persistence, but also look for some motivation to persevere through everything that tries to bring you low today! Look for some inspiration to stay persistent in all aspects of your life as a child of God today. Be determined to push forward so you can declare at the end of the day, “I made it!” And realize that you did not make it on your own, but with the Lord’s presence. He will be right there walking through this day with you! Keep praying! God will not be bothered! Press upward! Persist! Praise God! Have a good Friday! Be blessed!
“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you; he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” (Luke 18:1-8 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King