I imagine that we all read sometime in our childhood the Aesop’s Fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare.”  We consciously cheered

on the underdog tortoise as he slowly plods on to beat the overconfident hare.  But was the tortoise really an underdog?  He may have appeared to be on the outside but inside he had a quality the hare never possessed that gave him the advantage all along: PERSISTENCE.

Persistence is the inner fortitude to keep going no matter what.  It is the steel of a decision made that will be followed through until the end.  The tortoise had his eyes set on the finish line while the hare was distracted by everything else around him.  Paul encouraged the early Christian church in the letter to the Hebrews to keep their eyes focused.  “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy set before Him endured the cross…” So persistence involves a decision to move forward plus a determined focus on the goal.

How many dreams have been forfeited because in our minds we thought we couldn’t attain it?  It was really a self-filling prophecy.  We made excuses why we never took the first step toward the dream. “I’m not smart enough.  I don’t have the money it would take.  I have too many other responsibilities.”  The world is full of people weighed down by the burden of “not enough” thinking.  If they do start moving toward their dream, they don’t have the fortitude to continue if they are met by criticism or roadblocks.  They feel justified in saying, “Well I tried but it just didn’t work out.”  They settle for mediocrity.

Shadrach had many times that he experienced giant setbacks in his quest to become a doctor.  He had the innate ability within him to accomplish this goal but everything around him seemed to be against it.  He fled out of Liberia numerous times avoiding resurgences of the civil war.  But he kept his eye on the goal, never giving up.  He was discouraged but not overcome with defeat.  All the time, God was in the background, setting circumstances up for Shadrach to achieve his goal. It wasn’t in the way he imagined.  He had to navigate over and around many road blocks but he did it.  He persisted without exception.

Andy Andrews has written a book called “The Travelers Gift.”  It is a fictional story of a man who goes back in time to meet 7 people who had great accomplishments or were exceptionally admired for their life.  He developed 7 qualities that made these people great that he calls the 7 decisions. Of the 7 decisions, Andy notes that the decision to persist without exception is the most important.  All the other decisions hinge upon this decision.  The 7 decisions are as follows:  The Responsible Decision (The Buck Stops Here), The Guided Decision (I Will Seek Wisdom), The Active Decision (I Am a Person of Action), The Certain Decision (I Have a Decided Heart), The Joyful Decision (Today, I Will Choose To Be Happy), The Compassionate Decision (I Will Greet This Day With a Spirit of Forgiveness), and last but certainly not least The Persistent Decision (I Will Persist Without Exception).

There may be many who are smarter, stronger, wealthier, or more beautiful than you.  But if you have sought wisdom and made an educated decision to follow a certain dream, then move toward that goal with action.  Don’t sit still.  Don’t stop. Persist without exception.  Be the tortoise and win the race.