Golf, presidents and persistence ............. Parables 737

November 6, 2001

Despite the insistence from non-fans that the game of golf only “spoils a good walk,” I know why golfers enjoy their game and keep coming back. It’s that occasional perfect shot. I had a dream once in which I played a perfect golf game, finishing with a hole-in-one. I woke up laughing. Even though an occasional good shot gets me back on the course, in my case, perfection takes a lot more than dreaming.

My husband calls golf a “muscle memory” game. I say I have a bad memory. He says practice may not make me perfect but it would certainly help my game. So, I need to practice. Actually, if golf can teach me persistence, then this otherwise “spoiled good walk” has more value to it than I thought.

Persistence is an important commodity. History offers many examples. For instance, a family was forced out of their home when their son was seven. He had to work to help support them. His mother died two years later. At twenty-two, he lost his job. He wanted to go to law school but his education was insufficient so he went into debt to became a partner in a small business. Less than five years later, his business partner died and it took him years to repay the debt.

He courted a girl for four years but she turned down his marriage proposal. After trying three times, he was elected to Congress but failed to be re-elected two years later. Two years after that, his four-year-old son died. Four years later, he ran for the Senate and lost. In two years, he failed as candidate for vice-president, then two years after that failed to make the Senate again. Finally, at fifty-one, he was elected president of the United States. His name? Abraham Lincoln. He persisted and became part of American history.

God tells his people to also persist. When life gets rough, we are not only to keep trying, but the Bible says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1)

Aside from the “be joyful” part, God makes sense. We are not born with persistence. We need trials to learn and develop it. Without steep hills to climb or difficulties to overcome, our lives atrophy.

The Bible continues: “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Gems are polished with friction; we are perfected with trials. Notice that enduring under pressure is the mark of maturity. Obviously, those who endure must be well-grounded in their faith. They can handle whatever comes their way with courage and determination because they know that God is with them and He will help them through the trial.

Compared to the difficulties faced by Abraham Lincoln, being persistent in golf is a small challenge but big or small, whatever looms up before us can be seen as important to our character development and maturity. Rather than letting trials produce whining and retreat, we can let them produce growth in our lives.

So I’m working on the ability to stick to it, no matter what. Facing obstacles is a challenge but I try. As I do, I’m also noticing there is one other obstacle — when I see trouble coming, I’m not quite yet able to be joyful about it!

God’s merciful persistence .......... Parables 629

February 9, 1999
 
Lana (not her real name) is dying. The medication prescribed to treat a serious disorder has destroyed parts of her throat and esophagus. Soon she will be unable to eat. A tube will help for a time but the damage will eventually eat away her ability to breathe.

Lana gets angry at anyone who offers to pray for her. She is not interested in God or the gospel of hope for eternal life. Fiercely independent, her faith is in herself. Further, she wants to die as she has lived — her way, not anyone’s, not even God’s.

Her friends feel helpless. Whether or not she made choices that brought her to this, Lana’s own way is not working. Everyone sees it so clearly, except Lana. They want to help her but she doesn’t want any help. Those who know how to pray, pray anyway, without her permission. What else can they do?

Some say if prayer is against her wishes, it should not be offered. If Lana wants to turn her back on God, it is her choice. Do not interfere. Let her make her own decisions, even if they are not what we want. Others say the problem is not her stubbornness but that she just doesn’t understand how anyone can die with hope and in peace.

Regardless of our personal experiences with God, the Bible makes it clear that He does not give up easily. Lana may not be interested in God but God is interested in her. Even as she resists Him, He will not turn his back on her. God is like that. He even shows mercy on the least likely. In one example, Jesus stopped at a well during the heat of the day, long after the villagers had been there to draw water. A lone woman appeared on the path and when she got to the well, Jesus asked her to draw enough for Him to have a drink too.

This was an unusual encounter. In those days Jewish men did not talk with women, especially a woman by herself. Strike One. Second, she was a Samaritan. Samaritans were a half-Jew, half-pagan race hated by the Jews and banned from worshiping God with them. Strike Two. As Jesus talked with her, it came out that she had been ‘with many men and now lived with one who was not her husband.’ Strike Three. Why did Jesus break at least three social norms of His day and bother with her?

He had His reasons. Throughout the Gospels accounts of His life, He gave his attention to both men and women. He never once indicated any contempt or discriminated against a woman. He reflects the attitude of His heavenly Father who created both in His image and loves both without prejudice.

In the same vein, He had no prejudice against Samaritans. He knew the plan of God did not exclude anyone, regardless of their race or background and how or what they worshiped.

Third, Jesus was interested in sinners. In Matthew 9:13, He challenged people to learn what God meant by saying He wanted ‘mercy, and not sacrifice.’ He then said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

By this lone incident, the Lord reveals His merciful heart. The woman was surprised that He talked to her. She knew the norms. She was late coming to the well because she knew others looked down on her, yet Jesus did not. He persisted in the conversation until she understood who He was and that He could give her ‘living water,’ a euphemism for eternal life.

Lana’s friends who know God will persist in praying for her. They do it, not to push something on her, but because they have Christ in their lives. His merciful persistence is showing up in theirs. They also hope God will touch her life despite her resistance and the many strikes against her. They know as God does, that her thirst for life is greater than her thirst for independence. She needs that living water.

Faith is a “can do” thing ................. Parables 175

(July 26, 1989)

A friend once remarked, “That fellow will never amount to much -- he’s a CAN’T MAN.”

An apt description of a man who seldom finished what he started, and seldom even started. Sounds just like the “slothful” man in’ Proverbs who excused his inactivity with, “There is a lion outside. I’ll be slain in the streets.”

Quitting comes easy to the lazy. A person whose heart isn’t really in the thing hasn’t much staying power either. Ask any committee. Even the most brilliant ideas sooner or later deteriorate into tedious hard work! So how do you get motivated when passion for a project fizzles and motivation dawdles and dwindles?

DETERMINATION: Some folks keep on keeping on because they’re stubborn. Their goal is set, their jaw is too. Nothing’s going to stop them. They want what they want when they want it. An iron will ensures completion.

NECESSITY: Others keep on because someone depends on them. It might be baby’s cries calling “I’m hungry, I’m wet. I need a hug.” It might be creditors playing their song, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.” Whether it’s a job that must be done or food put on the table, survival is a strong motivator.

HABIT: One of my relatives cleans her house every Saturday, top to bottom, inside out, until it sparkles. When her children were small, dirt made the chores necessary. These days the shine is still there on Friday. Nevertheless, she cleans house every Saturday.

VISION: “Maybe no one else can see my goal but I can either smell it, taste it, or picture it in my mind.” With that, all obstacles are taken in stride. The job gets done.

The Word of God often refers to “keeping on.” The Greek word is translated patience, or endurance, or persistence, and is simply the ability to continue doing what God requires under all kinds of opposition, stress, pressure and disadvantage. Such persistence may be fueled by a vision or assisted by determination. A sense of being needed helps too. So does good habits. Yet hotter still burns the fuel of faith.

Faith is, “the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is moving along life’s path with the desires of the heart linked to God. It is knowing that He gives purpose to all that I do.

Faith carries with it the idea of vision. God opens blind eyes and enables “sight” of eternal realities through faith in Jesus Christ. This vision includes assurance. Obeying God will be rewarded - not necessarily in this life but certainly in the next. Such assurance fuels persistence. Faith is determination too. It is knowing that God tells the truth and stubbornly hanging to that truth, even if “every man is a liar.”

Faith even increases through developing the habit of turning to God in trials. He proves Himself to be true once, then again, and again, and again — until trials produce an automatic response for all of life. Faith soon becomes “the only thing to do”.

As well, faith senses being indispensable. While God certainly is not helpless without us, He has purpose for our lives. He is building a kingdom. He will use our obedience as a bricklayer uses mortar to hold walls together. The Bible even calls believers “God’s building.”

Not only that, our obedience adds fireworks to the display of His power. Who else but a mighty God could bring sinful people into submission to Himself? Every time I act in faith, it is a testimony to God’s grace. Far from abstract or useless, faith gives not only life but motivates the faint-hearted, the aged, and even the lazy. Who knows, some may even themselves excited about going out and tackling that lion in the street.

Persistence ...................... Parables 162

Did you hear about the blundering bank robber? He wrote his message on a withdraw slip, signed it Bank Robber, and gave it to a teller. The teller (get this) could not read his writing. She thought his name was Bank Robert and tried to find an account by that name. By the time another bank employee deciphered the scrawl, the robber had second thoughts and fled.

His next stop was a convenience store. He told the clerk he was armed and to clean out the till. The clerk conferred with another employee and decided to call the manager to see if they should do it. Blundering Bank Robber split again, this time taking a few groceries with him.

Fifteen minutes later, he entered another bank. (This guy gets an A for persistence!) He handed a carefully written note to a teller and finally achieved his goal, escaping with an undisclosed amount of money.

The story reminded me of a dog we once owned. Every time she tried to chase a cat, the cat just sat and looked at her, even yawned. The dog was a soft-mouthed retriever who instinctively would not bite into a living creature — thus cats never took her seriously.

While the goal of the dog and the bank robber is not particularly virtuous, there are lessons to be learned from these stories, especially for those who follow Jesus Christ, tell others the gospel and are puzzled if no one takes their message seriously.

IMPROVE OUR APPROACH - If we are blundering continually, perhaps we need to check our style. We might just need instruction. So find someone who knows more and learn. While we are at it, make sure there is not ‘something about our life that doesn’t match the good news that we want to share. Should there be, clean it up. We don’t want this response: “I’d like to believe you but what you are speaks louder than what you say.”

MAKE IT CLEAR - Whatever we say needs to be plainly said, especially the good news about Jesus Christ. While clarity isn’t all that is needed, a mixed up or muddied gospel presentation will turn most people away, perhaps to some philosophy that makes better sense.

PERSIST - Most of us give up too easily. It might help to recall our own experience with God. Didn’t He persist, in spite of our initial failures to grasp the truth? And aren’t we glad that He didn’t give up?

PUT SOME BITE INTO IT - Too often we present Christianity as “a way” and our message as only one choice among many. Jesus didn’t do that. He claimed to be “the way” and said “No man can come to the Father but by Me.” He also said that the alternative for rejecting Him and the gospel was condemnation and that those who refused Him would “die in their sins.”

Even when Christians get their act together, people may still say no. That is their decision. But far better they say “no” to a clear message than “no” to a foggy, fumbling presentation given by someone whose life is in utter contradiction to it and who blocks the image of Christ that ought to be reflected.

My dog never could chase cats. She eventually gave up. But Bank Robber finally achieved his goal. He kept at it. We need to keep at it too (but not robbing banks).

There are people who yearn for assurance of spending eternity with God, hear the message, and yet cannot seem to grasp what we say. Sometimes people- fail to take us seriously. That should be incentive for change - a stimulus to take a look at ourselves and deal with our shortcomings. Then we can go on with renewed conviction that this message we have is indeed life changing — and worth consistent and persistent telling and retelling!