Perseverance not defeat

In his book Eating Problems for Breakfast, Tim Handles shares a conversation he had with a wilderness scout named Bernie.

“I’ve had lots of people get lost up here,” Bernie said.

 I responded, “That’s probably because they don’t really understand a map and compass all that well. Right?”

“Nope,” he said.

“Well, it’s probably because they are new to the wilderness,” I said.

Again, he replied, “Nope.”

“Then it’s probably because they are city folk and don’t know east from west,” I said.

“Nope,” he replied.

“Well, is it because they are out here for the first time, and they are rookies and stuff?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said.

“Then it’s because they don’t understand the terrain,” I said.

“Nope,” he said. “

I must have asked him at least a dozen more questions to which I kept getting the same simple answer, “Nope.” My curiosity finally won out, and I said, “Well, then, how come they get lost all the time?”

“It’s because they don’t go far enough!” He said. “I tell them to go five miles and they go about three fourths of a mile and start turning left and right, and end up all over the place.”

So you got a purpose in life. The past days, you’ve heard talks on the need to establish a purpose for living, so you decided to have one. So why are you still lost in the wilderness? Unable to get to where you’ve set out to go? It’s because you haven’t gone far enough.

Many people still get lost in the wilderness even after deciding on a life purpose because they don’t go far enough. At the slightest trouble or difficulty, they ditch their plan and shift gears, causing them to miss their life goals completely. In order for your life purpose to work and for you to reach your life goals, you have to go far enough. This is perseverance.

Perseverance is defined as a steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a steadfastness belief. 1It means going far enough and finishing the race.

During Adolph Hitler’s reign of terror, then British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill had the formidable task of holding his country together. Despite continued attacks of the Germans, and against the advice of his advisors and friends to consider surrender or negotiation with the Nazis, Churchill stood his ground. His philosophy was simple: “Wars are not won by evacuations!”

And life is not won by evacuation either.

No matter what purpose you have set out to do, no matter what goals you have established for each area of your life, sooner or later, you will encounter challenges and obstacles. When you do, don’t evacuate.

You’ve managed to keep your integrity in the workplace all these years, even while everybody else has been compromising. Don’t evacuate. Hold the fort.

You’ve been married for several years now, and your wife has remained faithful to you. Don’t evacuate now. Close your ears to the enticements of friends and co-workers.

You’re a Jesus-believing and Jesus-following Christian in the midst of a pleasure-loving people. Don’t evacuate. Go on and persevere.

God sees your clean hands and pure heart. So hold on to your faith. And pray and ask for an additional dosage of strength from God who never runs out of grace. Don’t evacuate. Persevere.

Galatians 6:9 (NIV) says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

In other words: Don’t evacuate!

(Spend two whole days with Francis Kong developing your leadership skills this July 4-5 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)

1The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved.