Last week we started this three-part series with the goal of sharing key characteristics that can and will make your life have more meaning and purpose if only you embrace them and make them a part of who you are. The good thing about each of these traits is that they are developmental. Last week we looked at how your perspective on situations and circumstances can change your outlook on life. The notion that some people are just born with a negative outlook or that some people just automatically look on the bright side of things is merely that a notion. The very situations and circumstances that happen in each of our lives are the same instances that help us develop our perspective. The same rule applies with today's trait, perseverance.
Just as in running you build your stamina by training your body over a period of time, the same is true for perseverance. Marathon runners don't start training by running twenty-six miles, some started out walking around the block in their neighborhood, and even athletes that might label themselves as "conditioned" have to start somewhere to build up their endurance and stamina to eventually reach the goal of finishing a 42-kilometer race. So, as we jump into our Flat Tire Thought today, don't be too hard on yourself thinking that you are a quitter or that you don't know how to bounce back up after a fall. That is what perseverance does for you and a great deal of your development in the area of persevering is directly linked to one four letter word, hope.
When I say perseverance is directly connected to the word hope, don't get confused thinking I'm talking about something like luck. "Oh, I hope I win the lottery" is giving the word hope more of that type of connotation. I don't believe in luck, to me there are no coincidences in life. God has a plan, we make choices about which direction we are going to go, but I trust that God's plan will be fulfilled whether it is by me making the right choices, or through some other means if I fail to fulfill God's purpose for my life in service to Him. So, if "hope" isn't just hoping for something good to happen in our lives, then what is this hope that pushes us to move forward and not give up?
Hope is the presence of faith that there is something bigger than ourselves out there. A firm, unwavering belief that the God who created Heaven and Earth, the Omnipotent and Omniscient Alpha and Omega, has His hand on my life, your life, and every other person's life. The hope that this type of faith builds is one that believes all things happen for a purpose and that God has a plan and His plan will be done. We persevere because we hold firm to this belief. I won't give up, because at the very moment I do I may have missed out on the door that God was getting ready to open.
The tale of the race between the tortoise and the hare is an improbable one at best. Looking at the participants in that race it would be ludicrous to even think the slow, methodical tortoise would even have a chance to win that race, but that is exactly why they ran the race. The outcome is not settled until one of the contestants crosses the finish line. In the case of this proverbial tale, the tortoise prevailed because of its perseverance. Not because the tortoise thought all it had to do was show up and the victory was in hand, but instead, it was because somewhere along the way that tortoise had prepared for such as day as this race and in the tortoise's mind, the race could be won and in this particular instance win the tortoise did!
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. We do not know the outcomes in life. We do not have a crystal ball that can show us whether we will win the race or if we will fail miserably finishing dead last. Even worse we don't have a guarantee that we will even finish the race that we are currently running. It is not our place to know the ultimate outcome of our races in life, it is our responsibility to run the race as if we are going to win the race. Even if we fall back or fall down, we must get back up and keep pushing for the goal that we are pursuing. Perseverance. Plainly and simply said, we don't give up because we have a faith in something bigger than ourselves and definitely bigger than what we can literally see. I have chosen to place my faith in Christ.
I may fall down ten times, I will get back up eleven! I might lose the race today, but I will continue to work and improve for the next race tomorrow. I may lose the battle over and over again, but ultimately, I know who has already claimed the victory! "For we walk by faith, not by sight" II Corinthians 5:7, and that faith tells me to keep fighting when the odds are improbable, to keep rising up when the mountain looks insurmountable, and I will continue to give, serve, and lead because I believe that is what I was placed on this earth to do. On purpose for a purpose! My prayer is that you will develop your perseverance capacity. Overcome obstacles by making them ladders to what's next instead of barriers to what might have been. Constantly move forward in the face of adversity because the faith you have in Christ will empower you to overcome it if it is His will, or endure it and thrive in it if that is His will. Learn from your mistakes because those are the building blocks for your next opportunity in life. You've got this!
Coach Carter
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