Learning to Persevere Sample

PERSEVERANCE MATTERS

Perseverance: it is your gritty, no-quitter mentality. This stat is the single biggest predictor of your success trajectory in life. Studies (Duckworth, “GRIT” 2016) have proven that given a group with equal IQ scores and ability, those with perseverance and grit will beat out their counterparts nearly every time. Jesus was the epitome of gritty, and He wants His followers to be the same as they follow Him. He wants us to use our struggles as a way to develop a stronger relationship with Him and others. 

Clearly (from the video you just watched), before Christ, I was not gritty. I was dishonest. I was lazy. I lacked the self-discipline to even care. But by God’s sovereign mercy and grace, He has allowed me to go through trials that have grown me to become a woman who perseveres. 

God desires this for all of us. As Christians, we are all going to go through trials. All of us get sick. All of us get hurt. All of us are going to lose loved ones. We are all going to face tragedy, sickness, disappointment, heartbreak, and loss. These are part of this fallen world! When you face trial you have a choice: 

• Call out to Jesus, lean in, and let Him create perseverance and grit in your heart, or  


• Sink beneath the waves of the trial, give up, and lose the only thing that has value in this life—Jesus.

The Bible passage you are going to read is a story about Jesus’s disciple, Peter.  He chose to walk on water in the waves of the storm with Jesus. Even when he fell beneath the waves in fear, he called out to Jesus.  Will you do the same when the storms come into your life?

Challenge::  

What is one area of your life that you feel like you are drowning in your faith?

How can you call out to Jesus today?