Persistence

Persistence is the determination to do something in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Persistence is a virtue but it is unfortunate that it is gradually being eroded in our society these days.Faced with little difficulty,opposition or failure,people quit easily.Some people even spiritualize it.They believe if they try once and they don’t succeed,it means God is not in support of what they are doing.

I do not agree!

If you are able to move close to successful people,you will be shocked how many times they fail before they succeed.You assume they have never failed because you don’t see their failures on their CVs.The only things you see on their CVs are:He/she graduated at 20,became CEO at 23,a multi-millionaire at 26.

What happened between ages 20 and 23? Do you know how many of his/her applications that were rejected?Do you know how much money he spent writing exams without success?Do you know how many risks he/she took between ages 23 and 26?

I was watching Mrs Folorunsho Alakija’s interview with Bishop TD Jakes few days ago.She is a billionaire businesswoman and was once ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria.I was amazed at how many times she tried to secure an oil block some years ago.She said she had to fast for forty days before the oil block licence was issued to her.Even after getting the licence,she went into another 12 years of legal battle with the government when the latter wanted to collect 50% out of her own 60%! She didn’t give up despite the difficulties.She was persistent and it paid off eventually.

What if she had given up within those 12 years? What if she had thought maybe God didn’t want her to own an oil block? She wouldn’t have become who she is today.

Are you about to give up on your dreams because of some difficulties?I challenge you to hold on.In a matter of years to come you will be celebrated if you are persistent!

Shalom.