REFUSE TO QUIT!
In Luke 18, Jesus talked about the parable of the persistent widow. In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. From his town, a widow kept coming to him with a plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”
Again and again, the judge kept on putting off the widow. He simply didn’t have time for her!
Despite knowing pretty well how cruel the judge was, this poor widow never gave up trying. There was no sign that she could ever be granted justice but that couldn’t put her back. Day in day out, she kept on knocking at the judge’s door.
After seeing how determined and persistent this widow was, finally the judge said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God nor care about men, I will see that this widow gets justice so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming.”
Against all odds, the widow finally got justice! She came out a victor!
Now to you my friend, how many times do you knock before you give up? Many of us have great dreams. We have dreams to change the face of our nation. We have dreams to start great businesses. We have dreams to impact our generation like never before, but more often than not, we lack persistency! We try to push once, twice or thrice and when we see no positive results, we become bitter and cynical about life and quit trying!
Persistence is the bridge that separates those who just dream from those who actually make their dreams a reality.
To give your dream a chance of seeing the light of day, you must be willing to pay the price of persistence. You need to keep pressing on even when every door seems closed.
Friend, don’t just knock twice or thrice and turn away and go home in frustration! I have a suggestion. It sounds crazy but… why don’t you at least try 100 times if not 1,000 times like our beloved predecessor Thomas Edison!
One thing I’ve come to learn in life is the fact that we’re closest to our greatest victory when the going gets tougher! In simple terms, it always gets worse before it gets better.
As I write this I’m thinking of a great athlete in a marathon. The last few miles to the finish line are always the toughest. At this point, every muscle is acing. Every bit of his body is saying, “STOP! STOP! STOP!” But you know what? He keeps on keeping on! Like a great soldier in the firing line, he matches forth! In spite of the hurting, he knows that quitting is not an option! The mantra is “No retreat, no surrender!” A few seconds later, everyone goes wild in celebrations! What happened…? Well. The athlete hit the finish line!
The athlete wins because he persisted when he had all the GOOD REASONS to quit!
There is no quality as vital to success as persistency. Persistency + grit (what I call stickability) is more important than talent! If you do not have persistency, then no amount of education, talent, or genius will make up for it.
Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the US, said it best: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talents. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.”
Today I challenge you to keep on going for your dream, keep seeking, keeping asking and keep knocking! Let me tell you. Persistency is the key that opens doors closed by resistance.
