The Power of Perseverance

I have a confession to make:  I have Olympic Fever.  It’s true.  I love the pageantry, the drama, the amazing feats of strength and skill.  Most of all I love to hear the inspiring stories of athletes who overcame incredible adversity to win or even simply compete at the Olympics.  There are so many examples but I am most inspired by those who endured tremendous physical pain and emotional loss and still never gave up.  They just kept going as though they didn’t understand the concept of stopping.  I think about difficulties I have faced and how I responded.  I realize there are times I have given up short of the Gold.  Most people have.  So what’s the difference between those of us who throw in the towel too soon and the Olympians we admire so much?  It boils down to perseverance.  Most of us are not training for the Olympics so why does this matter so much?  Paul answers this question in Romans 5:3-5.  He says that perseverance produces proven character and proven character produces hope.  We all need hope.  It’s what keeps us from slipping into depression or pulls us out of depression if we are already there.  It keeps us from being paralyzed by fear and anxiety. It’s what we cling to when life in this fallen world is hard.  We have hope that we can trust in God’s love for us and that the eternal life He has waiting for us will be so glorious we will forget all the difficulties of life on earth. 

So how do we develop perseverance?  Our Olympic heroes seem to agree with Paul on this.  It starts with learning to exult in, or happily embrace, our trials.  Any Olympian will tell you that athletic performance is 90% mental.  It’s all about the messages we give ourselves and how we think about our challenges. We must view them as opportunities for God to make us stronger and grow our perseverance, proven character and hope.  God desperately wants to give us these gifts, but it can be hard to rejoice when we face seemingly overwhelming struggles.  When we focus on our difficulties and not our loving God, we can lose our motivation to persevere. But God has given us His Spirit to help us, if we will only trust Him.  These seem like fairly simple answers, but changing the way we think and where we place our focus requires discipline and practice.  Its hard work but it is well worth the effort.  Just ask any Olympian.

If you are in the midst of a trial and you are having trouble persevering or you find yourself without hope, please reach out for help.  You don’t have to face your struggles alone.  At Kim Humphries and Associates, it is our joy to walk along side you and your family as you learn to persevere through trials and find hope.

By Wynne Shaw

Kindness Can Change Us

“The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat everyone kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on – including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.” -C.S. Lewis

What does it mean to be kind in a time of busyness, a time of stress?  Some of the descriptions of the word “kind” used in the dictionary are gentle, thoughtful, compassionate and generous. What would you add to that list?

Kind is the opposite of “harsh, hard, sharp and bitter” and is synonymous with being gracious, pleasant and good according to Strong’s concordance.

What does it take to bring kindness into the lives of others? Especially when we are hurting, or lonely or just weary?

Too often the brokenness in life has an incredible way of bringing out the worst in us. But haven’t we all also had an opportunity to see it bring out the best of us- unexpected but true. Occasionally in the midst of tragedy, pain and loss we see the greatest acts of kindness.

What have you observed in the last few months? I’ve seen others give just because there is a need with no expectation of repayment. And others serve because they are able and someone else just can’t quite get it done. The need is there and we have the opportunity to help, to share joy, to lighten the load a little for someone else. Just a random act of kindness right? Lives are changed and we are changed because we choose to participate in practicing kindness.

Our nation just grieved again the one year anniversary of the Newtown tragedy. Last year after covering the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, NBC News’ Ann Curry wondered what could be done to ease the national suffering over the loss of 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary. Why not, she tweeted, commit to doing one act of kindness for every child and teacher whose lives were tragically taken?

In Texas a group of 8 and 9 year olds heard about the grace-filled idea and ran with it. By the end of the week they had completed over 100 “random acts of kindness” for other teachers, students, parents, siblings and others…

•  A hug

•  A smile

•  Meeting someone new at recess and play together

•  Saying “thank you”

•  Picking up some trash

Sounds a lot like “overcoming evil with good” Romans 12:21 ESV doesn’t it?

During this time of your life, no matter what is happening are you practicing giving the gift of kindness? Why don’t you try today to be kind to one person who is close to you and to one person you don’t know at all? Who knows what change that might bring to your life or to another person’s life? I can guarantee that you will feel better because you blessed someone else with your kindheartedness.

“The greatest feats of love are performed by those who have had much practice in performing daily acts of kindness.” -Anonymous