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251 Powell Drive, Jackson, Ohio 45640 † Phone: 740.286.2864 † Pastor: Rev. Eric Folk
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Pastor Eric's blog
Warning... what you are about to read may get worked into a Sunday morning sermon at a church near you some time down the road...
But I am writing today about persistance. I was reading a devotional thought yesterday during my quiet time with God about persistance. And the writer was relaying case after case of people who did not succeed on their first try... or 2nd try... or after many, many tries at whatever they were striving to do. And THEN... after much persistance they got their big break or the thing they were trying to do worked out. People turned them down, discouraged them, tried to get them to go in another direction. But these individuals ended up SUCCEEDING because they persisted and did not give up. And I'm sure you've read the stories of how people like Einstein and Edgar Allen Poe were even kicked out of school for being too mentally deficient to amount to anything. Can you imagine someone telling Albert Einstein he was stupid? Someone did. And that someone was so convinced of Einstein's lack of smarts that he kicked him out of school. But today when you and I call someone "an Einstein" we mean to say we think they are a genius. And how is this so? Because Albert Einstein persisted. He did not give up at what he was trying to do.
Now I think about my own circumstance and the things I am trying to do. Some things I have been trying to do for years with no success. Well guess what? I get discouraged. Sometimes I lose heart. But because I believe in the things the Lord has placed in my heart to do I am going to persist until they come to pass. And even if I do not achieve the goals I have set before myself I know I will be a better person for trying.
Now what is it you are aiming for? Is it hard? Does it require plenty of concentration and effort? Does it seem sometimes that you will NEVER do it? Anything that is worth aiming for is that way. Whether it is losing weight or learning a new language or job skill or saving up for a vacation. Along the way discouragement will come and you will be tempted to quit. It could be that as you read this, the calendar is bearing down on the turning of another year and this past year saw several resolutions fall by the wayside. Sometimes at this time of year we can almost hear an audible whisper in our ears, "why even try?" My answer is threefold. 1. We try because the goal is worthy of achieving. 2. We try because trying is part of life. To stop trying is to stop living. 3. We try because we are growing in the process.
There was a man once who prayed to God, saying he would do whatever the Lord asked of Him. "Alright," the Lord said, "Go over there near that ledge and push that boulder." So the man did just that. He went over to the boulder and he pushed on it with all his might. He pushed on it all day until evening. It wouldn't budge. So he got up the next morning and proceeded to push on the boulder some more. He did this all day, no breaks, and the thing just would not move. Day after day, week after week he kept at it. And there were even days when it seemed as though the boulder moved a little bit. But it didn't. In exasperation, after almost a year of just pushing on that boulder every day, the man cried out in tears to God with his frustration. "Lord, I have failed you. I have pushed this boulder faithfully just as you've asked, but I have not been able to get it off this ledge." "Who said anything about pushing it off the ledge?" the Lord asked. "All I told you to do was push on it. And look at the difference it has made in you." And it was true. The man's body, once rather flabby, was now just solid muscle. As it turns out, in seeking to bring about some great accomplishment for God, the change that God brought was in the man himself.
In His Peace,
Pastor Eric
Let me know what you think at kjerf@aol.com (my email address).