As we bring the month of July to a close, I would like you to do a fair assessment of yourself about your activities of the month. Was the month a success for you or not? What were the positives and negatives? And finally, how would you grade your efforts?

Inspite of all that we went through, we need to reposition ourselves and reset our minds to embrace the challenges that the new month will throw at us.

In doing that, I would like to speak on a subject that would help us triumph in the coming months, and that is Persistence

If you had been a little persistent on your efforts or ideas or convictions, things would had been different for you this month. You would have gotten what you wanted or achieved the success you were eager to attain.

I pray for you that as we are about to start a new month, may God ignite that potency in you so you can be able to go the extra mile and get hold of what belongs to you. Amen

Source

1Samuel 17:34-36 (NLT)

"But David persisted. I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats, he said.
When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth.
If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.
I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God".

MEANING OF PERSIST

According to Oxford dictionary, persist means to;

'Continue in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition'.

Your ability to stick to your opinion or ideas in the face of opposition is persistence or the strength you develop to try as much as possible to do what is expected of you is persistence.

So persistence is not only about you proving your wealth to others like what David did, but also ensuring that you prove your own wealth to yourself.

David knew the essence of persistence and therefore persisted king Saul to give him the chance to kill the enemy.

Persistence is our last resort in the face of opposition or difficulty because our ideas and opinions and visions are trashed by others if we do not persist.

If you are not persistent enough, you cannot change from a bad behaviour to a good one. The difficulties to change can only be overcomed by persistence.

THREE KEYS TO PERSISTENCE

Persistence does not come by easily and therefore to be able to stick to your ground and insist that your ideas be accepted, we shall look at three important keys that can help us persist effectively.

1. Experience.
2. Self believe.
3. Trust in God.

---

EXPERIENCE

Experience they say, is the best teacher and I totally agree. This is because the more experienced you are, the more informed you become.

Experience takes away the fear in you because it teaches you that you have tried it before.
Experience can encourage you to do it again.

Considering the scriptures we read above, David pointed out to king Saul how experienced he is when it come to fighting.
He recounted how he used just a club to kill a lion and a bear that attacked him.
He had enormous amount of experience that he considered the threats of lions and bears to be greater than the groanings of a giant (Goliath).

What amount of fear can be equalled to facing a lion in the wilderness? But he, David was able to overcome that fear to kill the lion and freed his lamb from its mouth. This is the experience he was talking about.

Sometimes God allows us to go through some failures and sufferings, not because he cannot save us but because he wants us to gain the experience required for a bigger task ahead.
Don't always complain or give excuses for your failures, but always try to learn from them to gain the needed experience.

You might thought that David's father Jesse was wicked to ask his youngest son look after flocks on the field but God knew why...........Experience.

Persistence don't bring experience but rather experience leads to persistence.

---

SELF BELIEVE

If you don't believe in your visions, it becomes very difficult for you to persist.
Persistence is achieved by believe.

People who persist in life are those who believe in their ideas, plans, methods, talents, strengths and systems.

David believed in his way of killing his preys and the weapons he had at his disposal. He used just a sling and stones to kill his enemy.

Persistence does not depend on what you have but your believe in the things you have.

If you are a leader, persistence depends on your believe in the people or resources you have at your disposal.

I urge you to believe in your dreams and visions, talents and strengths, plans and methods and you will be able to persist others to accept your ideas.

Source

---

TRUST IN GOD

David had the experience and strength needed to overcome the enemy but he didn't rely on them.

After giving the king insight into what he is capable of doing based on his experience, he did not hesitate to acknowledge the fact that it was the Lord who saw him through.

1Samuel 17:37

"The Lord who recused me from the claws of the lion and bear will rescue me from this Philistine".

Your experience will aid you to stand and fight but it is the Lord who will rescue you from the traps of your enemy.

Trust God with all your heart and he will grant you victory.

Believe in your abilities because you have them but trust in the Lord for the execution of those abilities.

I urge you not to remain silent or give up on your adventures but persist to the end and victory shall be yours.

God bless you for reading.

@henryyeboah from steemchurch Ghana.