On August 3, 1970, sixty‑two‑year‑old Miriam Hargrave of Yorkshire, England, finally passed her driving test. It was her fortieth attempt. After so much struggle and perseverance, one would assume she started driving right away. But unfortunately, after spending so much money on driving lessons $720 she couldn’t afford to buy a car. (1)
Maybe it’s just as well. How comfortable would you be knowing that the driver coming at you had failed the driving test forty times?
Another Brit, the Rev. David Guest required 632 lessons over a period of 17 years before he passed his driving test. “When I was told I passed I bent down on my knees and thanked God,” he said after passing the test. The 33-year-old cleric spent $11,000 on lessons, wore out eight instructors and crashed five cars before that momentous accomplishment. The secret to his turnaround; he finally switched to a car with an automatic transmission. His problems stemmed from an inability to distinguish between the clutch and the brake while driving a car with a standard transmission. (2)
We admire people who refuse to give up, who refuse to cut their losses even when they are pursuing such mundane tasks as passing a driver’s test.
Of course, there are some people we wish would give up. I was reading about a woman in Doylestown, PA, who didn’t want to buy any magazines but couldn’t get a magazine salesman to leave. Finally she agreed to give him $1 for every 10 push‑ups he could do on her doorstep. He did 200 and she gave him $20. (3)
Well, he did make a sale. Maybe not for any magazines, but at least his return on 200 pushups was all profit.
Writer Ted Loder tells a story about a salesman named Barry, who was having a bad day. It was noon. He was in his favorite diner where he was forced, by the overcrowded noon crowd, into sharing his table with a very large woman who was wearing a loud print dress and green gloves which went to her elbows. After some initial superficial conversation Barry asked Angela, the lady at his table, her profession.
“I’m a messenger,” said Angela proudly.
“A messenger? From whom?” asked Barry out of curiosity.
“From Her.” replied Angela.
Barry wanted to know, “Her who?”
“You know,” said Angela, “Her . . . God.”
After a lot more disbelieving questioning on Barry’s part he finally said to Angela: “OK . . . suppose you are a messenger from . . . uh . . . Her . . . then what’s the message?”
“The Message,” says Angela without batting an eye, “is: ‘Hang in there!’” (4)
Maybe that’s the message from God you need to hear this day, whether God is a Him or a Her. I don’t know what you’re going through right now in your life. I don’t know what dreads or dreams you are currently nurturing. I don’t know what frustrations, failures or fears. But oftentimes God’s simple message to us is simply “Hang in there. Don’t give up. Keep going. You’re going to make it.”
Often the secret to successful living is, “Don’t give up.”
Jesus told a story once about an unjust judge. This judge, said Jesus, had no fear of God and cared even less about what other people might think of him. He took bribes and gave favors to persons who held position and authority. He didn’t worry about conscience or law, about morality or justice. He was out to fill his pockets and to gain honor and recognition from those who held position, power, and wealth.
But there was a widow who needed his help. She was poor. She had no money to bribe him even if that were her inclination. She was a widow, a woman all alone in a man’s world. She had no man and no money to secure legal counsel to plead her case. She held no position or authority, none of the necessary clout to commend her to the judge. But she was being persecuted, being taken advantage of and abused by an unknown adversary.
Still, she let none of this stop her. Time and time again she kept coming to the judge with her plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”
At first the judge responded with silence. He didn’t make a move to help her. His heart was hard and harsh; he had no interest in helping anyone who would not benefit his career or fill his pockets.
But the poor widow kept on coming and coming, pleading and pleading. She would not let the judge rest. And notice what happened. The judge did not fear God, did not regard man’s opinions, yet he finally gave in to the widow and gave her the justice she was seeking.
Why? Because she would not give up. He could not get rid of her. She would not accept silence or take no for an answer. She kept coming and coming.
The judge finally said, “Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!”
Some versions of the scripture translate the words, “so she won’t eventually come and attack me” as “so she won’t wear me out.” But the words of the NIV are closer to the original which literally means, “unless she gives me a black eye.”
Imagine that a judge, a man of power in the community, but he was finally cowered by this poor widow.
This widow was persistent. She refused to let this corrupt judge go! It’s one of those quirky little parables that Jesus loved to tell. But he adds a very serious moral to it: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
These words were designed for people who were suffering unjustly for their faith. “Hang in there,” he was saying to them. “God hears your prayers. Hang in there and trust Him and you will not be disappointed.”
We talked about this last week how important it is to keep trusting God, no matter what your situation. This is a major part of the meaning of faith.
Having faith is more than simply saying, “I believe in God.” Faith is trusting God whatever your circumstance.
Pastor Tony Evans tells an amusing story about a businessman who had to travel to a small town for a meeting. He invited his wife to accompany him. She was excited about the trip . . . until she learned her husband was going to be flown to the town in a small twin-engine Cessna plane.
“Honey, I’ve decided not to go,” she said to him unexpectedly.
“What!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “Why not?”
She declared with some firmness, “I am not going on a little-bitty, twin-engine Cessna.”
Her husband smiled and knowingly said, “Honey, your faith is too small.”
She replied, “No, the plane is too small.”
The businessman really wanted his wife to go with him, so he canceled the Cessna and booked travel on a major airline. His wife went with him because, as she put it, “her faith grew because the size of the plane grew.” (5)
Some of you can relate to her concern. It’s difficult to feel secure in a plane that seems too small. Even more defeating, however, is the belief that your God is too small to look after you.
J. B. Phillips once wrote a book with the title, Your God is Too Small. And he was right on target. Many people have a God who is simply too small.
Jeannette Strong learned that lesson when her son was a toddler. She says that washing her son’s hair was always a problem. The little boy would sit in the bathtub while she put shampoo on the boy’s hair. Then, when she poured on the water to make a lather, the little fellow would tip his head down so that the shampoo ran into his eyes, causing pain and tears.
She tried to explain to her son that if he just looked straight up at her, he could avoid getting the shampoo in his face. He would agree; then, as soon as she started to rinse his hair, the boy’s fear would overcome his trust, and he would look down again. Naturally, the shampoo would run down his face again, and there would be more tears.
During one of their sessions, while she was trying to convince her son to lift up his head and trust her, she suddenly realized how this situation was like her own relationship to God. She knows that God is her Father. She is sure God loves her. She believes she does trust God. But sometimes, in a difficult situation, she confesses, she panics and turns her eyes away from God. This never solves the problem, she says. She just becomes more afraid, as the “shampoo” blinds her.
Jeannette Strong concluded, “Even though my son knew I loved him, he had a hard time trusting me in a panicky situation. I knew I could protect him, but convincing him of that wasn’t easy, especially when all he could see was water coming down. His lack of trust hurt me, but it hurt him more. He was the one who had to suffer the pain.
“I’m sure my lack of trust hurts God very much, but how much more does it hurt me? Often in the Bible, we are told to lift up our head to God when problems come. He knows how to protect us if we remember to listen to Him. Now, when I find myself in a situation where it would be easy to panic, I picture my son sitting in the bathtub, looking up at me, learning to trust me. Then I ask God what I should do. Sometimes the answer may seem scary, but, one thing I’m sure of He’ll never pour shampoo in my face!” (6)
That’s a simple analogy, but a powerful truth. The greatest problem that most of us have is either an insufficient faith or an inadequate God. Trust God and hang on. Trust God and keep going. Trust God and keep coming back demanding justice until God gives you a victory.
Many people experience defeat in life because they simply give up too soon.
Years ago an old man approached the famous 19th-century poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The old man showed Rossetti some paintings. He asked, “What do you think, Mr. Rossetti?” Rossetti studied them. After the first few, Rossetti knew the paintings were worthless; they did not display the least hint of artistic talent.
But Rossetti was a kind man, and he told the elderly man as gently as possible that the pictures showed little talent. He was sorry, but he could not lie to the man. The visitor was disappointed, but seemed to expect Rossetti’s judgment.
He then apologized for taking up Rossetti’s time, but asked if Rossetti would look at just a few more drawings these done by a young art student?
Rossetti looked over the second batch of sketches and immediately became enthusiastic over the talent they revealed. “These,” he said, “Oh, these are good. This young student has great talent. He should be given every help and encouragement in his career as an artist. He has a great future if he will work hard and stick to it.”
Rossetti could see that the old fellow was deeply moved. “Who is this fine young artist?” he asked, “Your son?”
“No,” said the old man sadly. “It is me 40 years ago. If only I had heard your praise then! For you see, I got discouraged and gave up too soon.” (7)
What is it the poet says? “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’” Don’t let that be said of your life. Hang in there. Don’t give up. Trust God. Don’t miss out on a possible blessing because you became discouraged.
That is particularly important in serving Christ. Some people get their feelings hurt in a church meeting, and suddenly they’re missing from the fellowship. Others get burned out, because the results of their labors for Christ seem negligible or non-existent. Christ is speaking directly to you. Hang in there. The results of your labors are not in vain. You are building up treasure in heaven.
In his book, A Home Forum Reader, Glenn Wasson relates a simple experience that had a profound effect on his life. He had been clearing brush in the mountains when he took a lunch break. He sat on a log by a rushing stream, woods all around him, and bit into his sandwich.
Suddenly a persistent bee began tormenting him, buzzing around his head, as if it intended to sting him. Glenn waved it off, but it quickly returned. This time he swatted it to the ground and stepped on it. He thought his problem was solved, but to his amazement, the bee emerged from the sand to renew its attack.
Before it had a chance to get airborne again, Glenn ground the insect into the sand. That should do it, he thought. He resumed his lunch. As he finished his lunch, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the bee burrowing out from its sandy grave. Glenn, intrigued, bent over to watch.
The bee’s right wing seemed all right, but the left one was “crumpled like a piece of paper.” Nonetheless, the bee with great patience stretched and tried its damaged wing, moving it slowly up and down. It ran its legs along the length of the wing, trying to straighten it out. The damage, though, seemed irreparable. Glenn, being a veteran pilot, knew a good deal about wings. As he knelt down watching the bee, he concluded that the bee would never fly again.
The bee, however, had other ideas. It furiously stretched out the damaged wing and increased the tempo of its fluttering. Then the bee attempted valiantly to fly. It managed an elevation of three inches before crashing back to earth. It tried again, and again. Each effort was a little more successful, though sometimes the bee would fly erratically this way or that. At last, the bee took off, buzzed over the stream, and was gone.
“As the bee disappeared,” Glenn later wrote, “I realized that I was still on my knees, and I remained on my knees for some time.” (8)
Friends, that bee demonstrated a faith that you and I can only envy. Some of us quit even before we really get started. When that happens remember that bee. When that happens remember the woman whom Jesus told about who kept demanding justice until she wore a crooked judge down. Don’t miss out on one of the real secrets of life: Hang in there! Keep stretching that damaged wing until you can fly.
1. Leland Gregory, Stupid History Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2007), p. 71.
2. The United Church Observer, April 1995, p. 55.
3. The Oregonian, June 26, 2002, http://www.oregonian.com/.
4. Pastor Dan Mangler’s Sunday Sermon, http://www.smlc‑elca.org/Sunday_sermons/december_1_2002_sermon.html.
5. Anthony T. Evans, Tony Evans’ Book Of Illustrations (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009).
6. Submitted by John R. Trammell, Savannah, GA.
7. Author Unknown, http://www.motivational-well-being.com/motivational-stories-9.html.
8. Cited by Alan Stewart, http://sermons.pastorlife.com/members/UploadedSermons/sermon_2352.pdf.