“It’s Not Always About the Length of The Fight, but The Endurance of The Fighter”

As we continue into 2012, there are a few 21^st Century trends that come along with us like the iPad 2, the latest iPhone or 4G Android/Smart phone and that beloved, wonderful mobile video game known as “Angry Birds” in all its various forms.  The designers of this game really should call it “Angry Players” because if you don’t have the right bird or give it a trajectory that doesn’t make the objects in the structure fall correctly, that tends to make you, well, angry, doesn’t it?  But no matter how aggravated or frustrated it makes you, faithful players will spend HOURS just to try to send that Red Ramming Bird, that 3-split Blue Bird or Boomerang Toucan into flight at just the right angle to cause the most destruction that will free the captive birds (if you are playing the RIO version) or destroy those annoying green pigs.  Why would someone want to spend so much valuable time to achieve such an objective?  It’s called persistence.

            Lately, at work, my iPod Touch has been having a problem holding on to the WiFi signal that makes it possible to stream YouTube and Netflix videos.  Lately, I’ve been streaming my dad’s favorite NBC program from back in the day called “The Rockford Files” that I came to enjoy on my lunch breaks.  I would keep getting the message that there was no connectivity, that I wasn’t connected to a Network.  This would make me go back to my settings and, to my dismay, discover that I was not connected to a WiFi Network.  Sometimes when I would try to re-connect, it kept saying that my iPod was not able to connect with it.  But I knew that the server has been recognized by my iPod before so it has to work.  When I finally got the connection back and would go to Netflix, it would continue to tell me it was not available but the rotating scroll would be seen which made me continue to hit OK but would wait until the connection was made to stream my new-found favorite TV program.  Why was it so important to get Netflix to work and stream my shows?  It’s called persistence.

                  So, what am I getting at, you ask?  I’m glad you want to know.  In our Christian walk, we may come across many challenges, especially things that would cause us to have to stop in our tracks and deal with directly.  The only defense and weapons in our arsenal is The Word of God.  When life and/or Satan throws up a structure to get in our way (like the past), we need to know if we need to throw that Ramming Bird (Matthew 24:13), the 3-split Blue Bird (St. Luke 10:19), the Black Bomb Bird (St. Matthew 11:12), the Egg Drop Bird (II Corinthians 10: 4-5), the 2 Blue Birds shackled together by their feet (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Deuteronomy 32:30), the Super-Ram Yellow Bird ((Hebrews 10:36) or the Big Papa Ramming Bird (2 Peter 2:9, II Chronicles 20:15, Zephaniah 3:8-13:17-20)  But the best weapon we have above all else is persistence.  No matter what gets thrown at us, no matter what setbacks we suffer, we are going on and we are going to make it.  God already knew we needed encouragement in the race, so he gives us Scriptures like “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not (Gal. 6:9)” or “For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise (Heb.10:36)” or “The race is not given to the swift nor to the strong but to the one that endureth to the end (Ecc. 9:11)”.  And then here comes our main man Apostle Paul with his, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14)”. 

So, I said all this to say what?  Simply that if you set goals for 2012, realize that there is a struggle ahead, a battle, a debacle waiting at the ready to derail you.  The last thing Satan wants you to do is succeed in anything, especially if it means being set free of your painful event from yesterday, turning your failures into stepping stones, making your bad decisions points of wisdom, and making the hard work you know things will take something that drives you instead of discourages you.  Everything he can throw at you, he will; no matter if it’s people, TV shows, movies, exes, church folk, family, etc.  Stay true to your goals, warrior of God.  What is it called that’ll help you make it to your victory?  It’s called persistence.