Persistent

Done!  Finished!  Ain’t got time for that!  These are all words that I said yesterday.  I have been saying for a week, 2 weeks or even 3 now.  We all have stuff.  Stuff we are trying to work out, work through!  Some of this stuff we have been holding on to for a very long time and we are waiting…waiting…waiting.  And we wonder at times will we ever get through.  God has shown me the way my life will end just as I am sure He has shown you all things in your life.  And we think “Oh Good!”  It’s nice to know how the story ends.  But sometimes the hard part isn’t knowing how it ends, it’s how we get there.  And not so much HOW but WHEN!  And there we have to wait again!

James 1:12 (NIV)

¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him

So let me begin at the beginning.  I struggle, but as long as God is leading the way, I say OK.  Here recently I am getting tired of just that daily walk.  You know how it is, we go along do what’s expected, what is commanded of us but it doesn’t feel like we are getting anywhere.  So for whatever reason it all piled up on me this weekend and I said “ENOUGH, I’M DONE” I don’t have  time to wait around for something that may not happen for years!  (Well I actually do have time, but…)  Now I know it will happen, because God said it would, but I don’t want to wait for it!  I want it and I want it NOW!  Yesterday I decided to go to evening church with my sister, haven’t been able to do that for a while because of conflicting schedules.  He said right off that he didn’t have a sermon but as the service began he said God had given him a word for someone.  That word was persistence, persistent! And as I listened I thought, hmmm, not for me! He talked about being obedient to God and if you do, everything else works out!  Now that was for me!  I thought, Yes I can be obedient, but persistent?  No, done with it!  I told him so after service.  I have not been angry with God but let’s just say I was feeling a little “miffed” and I told God the same!  I am not seeing results so I am ready to throw in the towel!  Persistent?  Nah, not for me!  So when I got ready for bed I opened this book I have been reading to chapter 9.  Draw the Circle, by Mark Batterson, was recommended by a friend and so far I haven’t been disappointed.  It’s one of those books that you read a chapter a day- 40 chapters, 40 days!  So this is my Sunday chapter.  I open the page and it says

Crazy Faith

Luke 18:5 (NIV) Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me.

Luke 18:5 (NLT) This woman is driving me crazy!

The first line of this chapter calls her a persistent widow!  Now when I read that I actually had to chuckle out loud!  Really God?  So I guess you are telling me that, yes, that word that Pastor Rodger said was “someone” was actually for me!  Even after I told him, NO WAY!  Not for me!  Batterson goes on to define persistent,  A nice word for crazy.  So not only is God telling me that yes, that’s your word, but you are kinda crazy.  And yes, you are a widow.  But he also says when the cause is a righteous one, it’s a holy crazy!  So I guess that’s OK!  Jesus Freak and Holy Crazy, kind of sums me up.

 So after I read my chapter I received that word, persistent.  As I drifted off to sleep I tried to think what that meant.  And I prayed…Lord help me persevere, help me stay on that path.  As I thought about what I wanted I realized I just WANTED!  I wanted what I wanted, when I wanted it!  Pastor Rodger gently reminded me that if we don’t persevere for Gods Will and strive for what He wants for our life, we let Him down.  We fail Him!  When I opened my email first thing this morning my memory verse for the day James 1:12 shouted perseverance at me!  And then I received

Ephesians 6:18 (KJV)

¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

I have to persevere.   You have to persevere!  Be persistent because it’s God’s will, not because I want to receive something at the end of my journey.  I want it because God wants it for me and I have to wait for it.  It’s what’s best for me…It’s what’s best for you!