Tunneling Through: A Look At Perseverance

As the Vermont tour train chugged alongside the Green Mountains. the conductor feed us bits and pieces of local history. One such tidbit was the fact that the original track had been laid in the early 1800's before dynamite was used to blast through rock. I didn't think much of it at first, but as  we passed by a few stone faces, it took on new meaning. Workers used hand drills, sledgehammers and muscle to pound their way through schist and metamorphic rock. As the trip progressed, I tucked the information into the back of my mind.

On the return trip, I began to contemplate the tremendous amount of work it must have taken to tunnel through sheer rock. It amazed me as we passed through several rock walls. I couldn't imagine the hours of backbreaking labor, muscle, sweat and endurance it must have taken to excavate through to the other side. It got me thinking about how people use to work harder in years past, especially if they lived on a farm or were settling our west or working as a laborer, building the railroads. Many of us today could never endure the physical effort our ancestors expended in their jobs and daily living. It took such perseverance!

It's a character trait we often admire in athletes, Olympians and homesteaders, but it's not one a lot of Americans still possess. We want our food quick, our shopping easy, our jobs forty hours a week or less, our marriages convenient and our devices to do most anything. I'm not complaining, just wondering how all of this effects our character and personality. When something inconveniences us, like a difficult spouse, relationship or job, we're more willing to ditch it and start over again. I wonder how this is effecting our psyche to be so soft, as Europeans and other nations often view us.

The Bible lists perseverance or endurance as one of the nine fruits of the spirit.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary  defines it as "the continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition." I believe it's a very important quality for the Christian to possesses and is the bedrock of many a godly man and woman. To persevere in faith, hope, love and joy while in challenging circumstances is what will make others stand up and look. There's the mark of a Christian. Not just enduring, grinning and bearing up under our circumstances, but holding firm to our faith, resolute in our demeanor, and enduring with peace, love and joy. Willing to go the second mile, even when we're lapped in the face is the call of every Christian.

Perseverance is the tenacity of faith to endure and not give up, to strike another blow when you just don't have the strength to pound that rock again. Call on the Lord when you are weary and strike out in faith. Believe you'll get a breakthrough! Tunnel through that rock, whether it be problems with finances, a career, marriage, addiction, depression or anxiety. You will reap such a great benefit when you wait for the harvest of your prayers and perseverance. Don't grow weary of doing good or attacking a difficult situation. Keep on enduring until God tells you to stop. When He does, you will most likely have reached the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel!

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