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By Barry Buzza
 I spoke with a man the other day who was telling me about his father, who'd been controlling and abusive. Although the man I was speaking with, had tried to counter his father's approach with his own kids, he wasn't sure it was working. "Maybe", he suggested, "to go the opposite way of my father, I've become too soft and permissive." He was seeing signs of irresponsibility in his 21 year-old son.
He told me, "I've noticed a negative trend in his work habits. He tends to quit when the work, or his relationships, get too tough. Last week, he was reprimanded by his boss at the bank where he was working part-time, and he just up and quit. Only when I reflected back on the past three or four years, did I notice the trend. He always has had an excuse - 'His boss was a grouch.' 'She didn't understand.' 'He didn't have time for the extra course.' 'The professor couldn't speak English.' "
We chatted for a while about a parent's responsibility to teach our children to be persistent. Like the old saying goes, "Persistence and perseverance made a Bishop of his Reverence."
You may have seen this before, but it's worth repeating. Abraham Lincoln's rise to the presidency is legend. He was born into poverty, lost eight elections and suffered a nervous breakdown along the way. Here were the markers along forty-four years of his life journey.
1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them
1818 His mother died
1831 Failed in business
1832 Ran for state legislature - lost
1832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.
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1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next seventeen years of his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislator again - won
1835 Was engaged to be married, his sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector - defeated
1843 Ran for Congress - lost
1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost
1860 Elected President of the United States
I love the prophet Jeremiah in the Bible. He was ridiculed, imprisoned, placed in a slimy cistern, locked in stocks and publicly humiliated. He never had a convert in forty years, but like Timex watches, kept on ticking.
There were a couple of times when he was tempted to run away. On one occasion he wished for a place out in the wilderness, a hunting lodge where no one could find him. He just wanted a little rest, a few months of peace and quiet. Another time, he simply decided that he would not speak anymore. If no one was going to listen, then he would stop preaching-but he couldn't do it. God's word became like fire in his bones.
One time when he was a bit depressed and complained to God, the Lord responded, "If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan!" In other words, "Toughen up kid. This is preschool compared to the way it's going to be soon!"
Persistence is a virtue we need to be modeling as well as teaching our children.
Barry Buzza, a veteran pastor, is the president of the The Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada. www.foursquare.ca
December 3/2009
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