Yesterday I watched my mother, who will turn 100 years old in just 146 more days, work on a jigsaw puzzle. We started at 1:00 pm and, except for two bathroom and meal breaks, she worked continuously until after 10:00 pm. I, of course, took some moments to check my phone or walk around the house.
But not Mom. No breaks for her.
If puzzle working is indicative of persistence in general, then I have persistence to a point. But I also like success. When I get stuck on a certain section and can't get ahead I'll move on to another area where I can hopefully get some pieces in and achieve some progress.
But not Mom. She is tenacious.
She worked on the hardest section--the part of the puzzle that was all green. And she stared and she picked up pieces and she tried and she tried--I swear she tried every single green piece to fit in that one spot. And then she tried them all again.
"Don't you want to try something else?" I suggested. "Here, maybe you could work on putting together the bridge."
"No," Mom answered, "I'm going to find this one. I know it's here somewhere."
And, eventually, she found it.
I have been praying for several years for ministry coordinators for my Operation Christmas Child team--especially a Network Coordinator to manage the relay and collection centers and a Community Relations Coordinator to lead a team to develop the ministry with community groups.
These are key roles and having the right people in these positions could revolutionize our team's impact.
I can't honestly say that I've been that persistent in finding those missing pieces for my team. I'd rather get sidetracked with something that gives more immediate success--like a giant shoebox packing party.
By God's grace, though, I want to have Mom's persistent perseverance. I want to think about what qualities those candidates need and pray specifically for God to bring the right Spirit-filled people to our team.
Instead of rushing around to do the work that these prospective candidates would be doing, I want to pray with 'importunity'--a good old King James Bible word for persistence--that God will fill these positions.
I'm going to take my inspiration from my tenacious, long-living mother. I'm going to keep asking and seeking and knocking....
Until God brings me those missing pieces.
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