GROWING SEEDS: Perseverance

P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-A-N-C-E

A few years ago, Chuck and I were at our weekly appointment at the Wound Care Center in Mt. Pleasant eating hospital popcorn waiting on the doctor.  I was passing time looking through old photos on my phone when I came across a quote I had saved years before:

"By PERSEVERANCE, the snail reached the ark."
C.H. Spurgeon

I read it to Chuck as he was laying on the examining table......and, between chomps on popcorn, asked him what this meant to him.  This was his reply:

"No matter how he (snail) is feeling or how slow he's moving,

he was constantly moving towards the Ark.
Imagine how he must have felt as the antelope ran by and he was left in the dust.....
but he kept on keeping on.....
the way we all must do.....
No-Matter-What."
Chuck Etheridge

I leaned down and kissed this man.....who often times, felt like the snail.  The world racing all around him at break-neck speed, where he was often left behind, unable to move as fast as the rest of the world.

Chuck had found God in the hardships.....in the pain....in the floods of this life he lived because of his amazing Perseverance. 

Websters defines Perseverance as: 
"steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success"

It's Perseverance that picks us up off the ground when we have been knocked down by the dark times on our journey through this world.  And yes, it's Perseverance that will even get us through an ugly virus.

Not only was it by perseverance that the snail made it to the ark in time, but he had a Cheerleader on the sidelines telling him,

"Don't be afraid; for I am with you. 

Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. 

I will STRENGTHEN you and HELP you. 

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

...and the snail made it.....just before they closed the door.