21 Apr Where There’s a Will…There’s a Way! (Because Tenacity is a Necessity to Fulfill your Destiny)

I love to fish!  However, my favorite type of fish I like to catch is shark.  Many times I will fish right off the shore at night.  Normally, I’ll be all by myself with a head lamp on for illumination.

Occasionally, when I fish at night a giant stingray will swallow my bait.  I’ve caught several stingray as big as a tractor tire.  For me, stingrays are the vermin of the ocean.  They are a total waste of time and it normally takes 30 minutes to an hour to bring in one of those giant stingrays.  They are extremely strong and when you finally get them in close to shore, they bury themselves in the sand which makes them doubly hard to bring in!

Well one night, I tied into one of those giant stingrays and I was in an epic battleto bring the creature in to the shore.  Finally, after about 45 minutes to an hour, my back and arms filled with lactic acid and quite tired, I pulled the stingray on to the shore. Alone at night, I looked at the stingray and said loudly, “You lose!”

I don’t know about you, but I am a work in progress!  However one thing I am, is tenacious!  I don’t know how to quit.  I discovered a long time ago, that tenacity is a necessity to fulfill your destiny!  It will take a very strong and determined will if you are going to fulfill what God has called you to do!

Now please don’t mistake what I’m trying to convey.  I don’t want you to become imbalanced here.  Remembering this should provide a good balance as we proceed ahead in our series:  A will bent towards the will of God is determination.  A will bent away from the will of God is stubbornness. 

The Bible tells us, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind” (II Tim. 1:7).  In this verse, the Greek word translated “fear” is not your normal word for fear.  Normally the Greek word is “phobos”, where we get our English word “phobia”.  In this verse it is the Greek word “delia” which connotes “cowardice”.  Secondly, the Greek word translated “sound mind” is one word, “sophron”,which means “a sound, stable mind.”  Really this verse could easily be translated this way:  “For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, love and a sound,stable mind.”

In other words, God does not want us to face life with timidity or cowardice, but with His power and His love and sound, stable mind!  In other words, we can have the tenacity that is a necessity to fulfill our destiny!