Persistence is often the only thing that separates those who discover success and those who find failure. Too often we give up before we experience the abundant fruit of the harvest because we lack persistence. In this series of posts, we will talk about why persistence is important, how to build it into our lives, and how God gives us the strength to stay on the path.
Persistence is about having a vision. It is knowing where you need to go. In the Gospel of Luke we read:
When the days drew near for him (Jesus) to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 (ESV)
Jesus had a vision. He knew what he needed to do. He would not be deterred from that vision. He had a purpose and a plan.
There are many battles we can fight in life. I am sure there were many more people Jesus could have healed. There were many more demons he could have cast out. There were many more sermons he could have preached. Those were all good things. But the ultimate reason for which Jesus came was the cross of Calvary. That was his ambition.
One of the secrets to persistence is to be persistent with the right things. That starts with having a vision so that we know when to say no. Jesus knew he needed to say no to other good things if he was to fulfill God's purpose for his life.
There are many good choices in life. The reality is that we can’t do it all. The challenge is not necessarily choosing between good things and bad things. The difficult choice we often face is choosing between many good things.
Having God’s vision gives us insight to separate between the many good choices we face. There are tradeoffs for every good thing to which we commit ourselves. When we say yes to one good thing, it hinders our ability to say yes to other good things.
Persistence is having the courage to say no. Consider the following verse:
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 1 Corinthians 10:23 (ESV)
What this speaks towards is having wisdom and discernment. I find that we have many well-intentioned people who will call to donate their used stuff to the church. I can’t tell you how many offers of used furniture I have had over the years. People don’t want to throw their furniture in the garbage, and they want to feel good about donating it. It’s always in “good condition.” But the problem is that we don’t have a use for it. There are only so many donations of used couches that we can receive. We applaud people for thinking about the church, but if we are not willing to say “no” we end up with a church cluttered with people’s used junk.
It’s a parable of our lives. We have a hard time saying no to good intentions and good ideas, and we end up with cluttered lives. We end up doing many good things, but not one meaningful thing. Not everything is helpful. Not everything builds up. Know when to say “no,” so that you can say “yes” to the right things.
Questions for Reflection
- Why does persistence require vision?
- What is your personal life vision?
- To what do you need to say “no” in order to fulfill God’s vision for your life?
- Share your comments.
Debbie Houlihan says
Thank you, Pastor Phil, for your message today. It’s often a challenge for me to discern the best “yes”. I’ve heard it said that when you say “Yes” to something, there’s less of you for something else… so make sure your “Yes” is worth the less.