2
0
As I sit here at my daughter’s college graduation, I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the utter determination it took her to finish. The utter determination it is taking her to take the next step into her adult life as she has persevered to not only graduate, but secure a job and, at the end of June, a husband and all that comes with that.
I’m proud of my daughter and proud of how hard she has persevered. It’s funny when we think about that word persevere. If you look up the word, the back half of the definition says, “with little to no hope of success.” We throw that word around like it’s no big deal. But if we think about it, persevering is a really big deal.
Whatever you’re trying to persevere through, it’s hard. If it was easy, “little to no hope of a success” wouldn’t appear in the definition. No matter how you persevere or what you’re persevering through, you are in for a challenge.
Honestly, when I think about those times I’ve persevered, the initial response was a desire to quit. There have been times when I’ve screwed up in my profession, marriage, or life in general, and quitting was what came to mind. It’s easier. Why complicate a mess with a difficult clean up? Just leave the room and forget the mess.
Of course, there are also those things that happen to us, and we have no control over them. Like an accident, illness, or unexpected breakup that just hit us out of nowhere. Both types of things can seem to clamp us down in leg irons and make it a labor to even move.
Whether or not it’s our fault, it is often just more simple to stay put and wallow with the heavy chains we have found ourselves in, a prison that there seems to be no escape from.
Many of us have gone through both things. Of course for me, MS has been my most recent event, and that diagnosis certainly felt like leg irons. There are many times it still does. But that prison doesn’t have to last. Nor any prison that we are in because of failure, a mistake, or life just hitting us between the eyes.
My son and I are watching Prison Break. Yes, it is an older show and one I’ve seen before, but it’s so good. Plus my son has never seen it, so it’s like experiencing it for the first time. Michael Scofield is a beast. He tattoos the prison plans in code on his body. If someone else looks at him all they see is a picture on his skin. All of this to free his brother from death row because he knows he is innocent.
Of course his brother has given up hope, but Michael perseveres for him. Linc (his brother) can’t see the end game, but Michael can. He has mapped it all out on his body and in his head. As I thought about this show, a verse came to mind. Acts 16:26 – “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” Pretty sure all was bleak before that, but the Lord persevered for them.
I’m not comparing Michael Scofield to the Lord by any means, but I do know that when you are about to give in to those insurmountable feelings of despair and your perseverance is running out, God will be there. If you reach out to Him, He will help you persevere. If Michael was confident enough to keep his brother going, then we can trust the Author of everything to keep us going.
I know there have been times where perseverance was not on my mind. MS can kick your butt some days, and I know if I didn’t have Christ, this determination that I have would be fleeting. But again, that’s what I am persevering through right now. Each season brings something different. After all, if the second season of Prison Break was just like the first, no one would have watched.
There are always new challenges and new things for us to persevere through. What’s awesome is that no matter what chains or prison those challenges may put us in, God is the great jail breaker, so never give up on Him, and He won’t ever give up on you. Until next time…
