The greatest serve with persistance!

Luke 22:28 Jesus says, “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” Persistence is defined as continuance till the end. And endurance is defined as using strength to continue despite pain and fatigue. The difference between the two is that persistence is remaining steady in hopes to finish while endurance is bearing pain so that you can finish. Christ-followers cling to the hope that “Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, Son of God and that he will carry them through.

I am always amazed at water. It is the model of persistence. Water has a way of pushing through amazing obstacles, one drip at a time. There have been many instances where what seemed to be an insignificant drip was really a tiny part of a dam pushing through a little at a time. Water is also very adaptable to what it wants to accomplish. Water can be calm and peaceful, but become raging and destructive. A lake can rise inch by inch and suddenly become a flood. A bay can combine with wind to be an agitator and bulldozer.

We need to be more like water. We need to be determined to push through our obstacles to serve whether by peace or by force. Imagine our lives as if it were a stream. It can trickle along gently, flowing across pebbles and shaping them as we move over them. Water changes things...persistence changes things. It exerts gentle pressure over time and softens hard rocks into rounded pebbles. Water combines with others to gain power. A stream joins with other streams to make a river. A river combines with other rivers to make its way to an ocean. Water is not satisfied with being a mere drop, but makes its way drop by drop to being a grand ocean.

Water carries things. It carries life along its banks. It carries progress from place to place. Water moves people and things from where they are to where they need to be. The persistence of waters..serves others...the persistence of believers also serves others.

Water is a change agent. It changes barren lands to fertile grounds. It can cut off or it can bring together. Even when it divides, it can still be crossed. Water changes the power balance. Water rises to the occasion. When life pours too much in it, it just finds new paths for it to flourish. When life tries to contain it, water pushes through to where it wants to go. 

As a servant... we need to be more like water and find a way to push through. Water is persistent. We need to be persistent as well. We need to move towards our goals, one step at a time. Our goals will not be reached overnight, but through the diligence of continued steps. We need to combine our strengths with others to form alliances that get us to where we want to go. When we add and multiply our strengths, we will eventually overflow our present boundaries and flow out into our full destiny. We need to carry ourselves from dream to reality to prosperity. We should not be satisfied with stagnancy, but keep current and keep moving toward a life full of productivity and creativity and fruitfulness.

Most of all, we should be full of life. Full of life-giving nourishment. Full of life-giving hydration. We should add to, not take away from. We should rejuvenate, not suck the life out of others’ dreams. We should bring forth creativity, not stifle.

If ever we need encouragement, we should think about a drop of water. We should think about how water gets where it wants to, drop by drop, building pressure that eventually results in a breakthrough. There is so much power in a drop of water. It is just the beginning. It is only the promise of what is yet to come.

If a drop of water can move a mountain through persistence, then surely we can serve through the method of persistence as well.

Serving with persistence is not about the “me,” serving with persistence is about clinging to the hope of our salvation and serving the “THEM.”

The greatest in the kingdom of God serve by methods of persistence.

You know I love ya, Don