“Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure” (2 Thess. 1:4).
PERSEVERANCE
When I think of perseverance in the midst of adversity I remember my dad. Death claimed his beautiful 31-year-old wife, Mabel. Grief-stricken, but with young children, he set out to work at any job he could find. He farmed the family homestead, raised cattle, sold groceries from a truck, worked at a service station and carried mail. He owned school buses and drove one himself. When I was a young child, our home even tragically burned to the ground.
My dad overcame many obstacles and heartaches. He willingly did whatever was necessary to take care of his family. He died on May 12, 1962, a Christian community leader respected by his peers and family. I have tried to emulate my dad in his work ethic and his fierce determination to keep his household together under difficult and painful circumstances.
The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” When they were small, our children liked to play with Weebles. The advertising slogan for these roly-poly plastic toys ran something like this: “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down!” The toys might bobble, sway, spin, and even bounce, but they would always land right side up. This is what the apostle Paul and my dad have demonstrated to me. They endured much difficulty, but they persevered. They landed right side up. Are you wobbling today? Tempted to give up and not persevere? Ask God for fresh strength. You never know how your legacy of persevering might help someone who is watching.
The size of a man is measured by what it takes to stop him.
