Perseverance

A friend at work asked me one day what my thoughts were on perseverance. He was to give a talk to a teenage boy during a walk. Here were rambling thoughts that went through my head. I felt like I had gone for a walk myself, with Jesus.

Life is a strand of trials. Money not enough. Kids unhappy. Family health issues. Threats of some kind. Guilt-infested conscience. Told-you-so attitude. What-have-you-done taunts. Work’s too much. People demanding. World asks too much of me and I give too much and get little to nothing back.Gossip about everyone, obviously including me. Too many … how do I say it the Catholic way… ‘unfriendly, cruel, spiteful’ people. Something holes. Gas holes. Unbending; merciless. There’s too much rejection. Being unlike others. Prejudice, racism. Confusion. Everything one does is a sin; everybody does it. One does not want to be odd. Doors are shut. So are windows. Failed here; unwanted there; left out here; ridiculed there.

Persevere, God says. Yeah? To give up seems easier. Perseverance is suffering. What am I doing this for? What’s in it for me? Do I have to do this? Yes, if I want to be stronger, better, cleansed, purified, heaven-ready. (I don’t know who answers me, but I hear a come back for every word I throw.) Offer it up…. God here you go. Put it in my bank of good deeds.

But how much of this can I endure? How much perseverance does GOD want from me?
Wait, let me guess…not seven times, but seventy times seven times? Persistence from beginning ‘til end?

So I must. Focus on the end product, the goal, the dream, the reward. What is it that I want to do, but I can’t do it because obstacles are so ridiculously in my way so that to give up seems like the intelligent choice. Like duh, I’m-not-cut-out-for-it---don’t-I-get-it kind of thing. Then I make myself think of the great inventors… who tried and tried to get the light bulb working, the telephone…. remember the deaf man who played great music… remember the runner without a leg.

So…ok I must persevere. Lesson is absorbed. But even a much greater lesson to teach myself is.…I must not persevere on my own. It is okay to persist, insist on attaining my goal, my dreams so long as I let God in on things… consult Him on everything. It shouldn’t be an I-can-do-this attitude but an I-can-do-this-with-God attitude. If it’s in His plans, WE can do it. With perseverance should come discernment. With discernment, prayer. With prayer, perseverance. Is this you telling me not to go with this or you telling me to try harder, to persevere? I am willing to keep trying if this is the path you want me on. Who cares if I’ve been rejected seventy times seven times? But I want to get off of this path if you’re telling me to get off.

Persevere. I remember the pagan woman who touched Jesus’ hem.. she was likened to a dog who must not ask for its master’s food. She said that even the dogs eat the crusts that fall from their master’s table. Jesus was touched by her faith. (I was touched by her humility.) Great is your faith, He said. But yes, not only had she great faith and humility….. she had great perseverance as well.…there was a crowd following Jesus, I remember, but she persisted. I probably would have said, ah, the line’s too long, I’ll come back later.

So I must persevere. Endure with hope, focus on the Lord. Life on earth is temporary. We are to endure the trials here until we get to heaven. I can do that. No, no. I can do that with God.