I listened to the well-known apologist Norman Geisler on the radio, and he had a really interesting testimony.  He was raised in a home that was not only god-neutral, but god-opposed.  His father was an ex-catholic and his mom was an ex-Lutheran, and both had very adverse feelings toward anything religious due to bad experiences.  As a matter of fact, they refused to be married in a church, due to their negative attitudes toward anything smacking of God.

At the age of nine Norman was invited to a local vacation Bible school and his mom allowed him to go, probably expecting him to get enough negative religion to inoculate him for life.  That was not the case.  It began four hundred straight rides to Sunday school in a van piloted by a husband and wife team who talked about Jesus every single trip.  At the age of 17 he made a decision to follow Christ and when he made his decision known to his mother she told him if he talked any more about Jesus in her house she would kill him.  He quoted  Philippians 1:12: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  His mother realized he was serious about his faith and said no more that day.

His mother could see the inevitable and though neither of his parents agreed with his decision, he went onto Bible college.  He went to college because his church had a strong evangelistic bent and he realized he did not understand his faith well enough to support it.  He graduated from college and his mother’s pride came out when she baked him a cake with  Philippians 1:12 on it.  She wasn’t on board, but she was at least not trying to throw him overboard.

Norman went on to earn two BAs, a PHD, a doctorate and to author over 70 books.  What makes this more amazing was  that he could not read when he left high school.  What is even more amazing was that his mother accepted Christ over 30 years later and his father shortly after.  They were both in their early 80s.

As I listened to these stories something jumped out at me.  Sticktoitiveness.  First of all, I love that word.  Sticktoitiveness (sometimes written stick-to-it-ive-ness)  is defined as dogged perseverance; resolute tenacity.  What a great way to describe the main people in Norman Geisler’s  testimony.  Two Sunday school teachers drove a young man to Sunday school over 400 times in a eight-year period.  A young man who couldn’t read eventually earned four degrees and became a well-known pastor and author.  Finally, a son prayed for unbelieving parents for over 30 years and eventually saw them come to the Lord late in life.  This kind of perseverance and tenacity runs contrary to the milquetoast image that many people have of Christians.  It speaks of the kind of attitudes we should have as believers in the risen Christ.

Paul appeals to us in Colossians 1:11-12 to “be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified (us) to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”   We have power to endure and the power to be patient and the power to be joyfully giving thanks throughout it all. We have this power because of the power which resides within us.  God never asks us to do what he has not equipped us to do and we have been equipped to do what this verse asks us to do.

Ray Kroc, the late founder of McDonalds, knew all about perseverance. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence” he once said. “Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with great talent. Genius will not. Un-rewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence, determination and love are omnipotent.”  Knowing that, there is no one who can equip us with persistence, determination, and love more than the author of these traits.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:13 we are told to “not grow weary in doing right.”  It was right for a couple to give a ride to a young man and for that young man to spend almost 20 years studying the Word of God and for that same young man to pray his parents into the body of Christ.  We need to realize that some things take time.  I have been been praying for certain friends for years.  I have one particular name on my list that has been there for more than 20 years.  If he comes to know the Lord will a few minutes a day for 20 years be worth it.  Certainly.  It was the perseverance of my younger brother’s witness that led me to the Lord.  I will be forever grateful for his persistence.

I do so much less than I should for God’s kingdom, but even in my weakness, God blesses sticktoitiveness.  He says to us “Stick with it.  I see you and I hear you.  Do not grow weary.  Do what is right. I will remain with you.”  Norman Geisler’s life in the Lord began with two tenacious people giving him rides and resulted in two loved ones accepting Christ late in life.  Had anyone given up along the way, who knows how lives would have been different.   God is patient with us and He never gives up.  That is His nature.  His nature should become ours.  As Winston Churchill said in one of his shorter speeches.  “Never, ever, ever, give up.”  I think he stole that line from God.