Christian Comment with Clive Lewis, Lay Member, Church of God of Prophecy

Perseverance

ONE of the obvious aspects in the shift from the industrial to information age is that there have been major developments in technology.

Take the microwave oven for example.

No longer is it necessary to wait 30-45 minutes to reheat a plate of left overs in the oven straight from the kitchen fridge.

One now only has to wait three to four minutes before hearing the ping of a microwave prior to being able to put hunger at bay.

The microwave oven is often used as a symbol of near instant gratification.

Generally, many don’t want to wait for anything.

Whilst this is perhaps not quite the case for baby boomers, it certainly applies to what is commonly known as the millennials.

Success, rarely comes overnight.

I once had an unplanned and unexpected conversation with the venture capitalist Sir Damon Buffini quite some time before he became a household name.

He said “I became an overnight success - it just took 17 years”!

Persistence is required to become good at something or simply to achieve ones’ goals.

Whether it is the local football team losing a match, flunking an exam or underperforming in an interview persistence means taking knocks and continuing.

Whether you like football or not, it is a fact that David Beckham is one of England’s finest modern footballers.

He holds the record number of caps for an outfield player with the England team with 115 appearances.

He was a first-class penalty taker, free kick and corner shooter.

However, it is a well-known that in order to get to be such an elite player, he practised day after day for years.

His mother describes watching him through the kitchen window.

Between the ages of six and nine, he progressed from 50 keep-me-ups, to 200 and eventually getting to a new record of 2003.

His legs would end at the end of it.

Nothing in life generally, will be handed to us on a metaphorical plate.

There is also no point envying those who scale great heights when we have not observed the graft and grit they have endured to do so.

There is a bible verse which says ‘In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads to poverty’.

One must be prepared to persevere in order to make headway.

It is hard work but the rewards are often worth it!