Perseverance According to a Preschooler

Perseverance.

One of my kiddos showed me what that is this week. One of my sweet girls was attempting at riding a tricycle that was way too big for her. Her feet could just barely reach the pedals.

When she first got on the tricycle, she too quickly realized the difficulty and skill involved in riding one. She’d push as hard as she could, only to find that she could push no more or to find that her feet had slipped off the pedals. And oftentimes, that tricycle would make its way backward—undoing the pushing and work that she had done to move forward.

After a while of watching her struggle, I asked her if she wanted a push. I told her that in order to push her, she had to pick her feet up off the ground and pedal while I pushed her, instead. When she reached divots or rough patches in the road, I would help her get over them. Soon, she learned that when she got stuck, all she had to do was turn around and look at me—and in seconds, I would be there to reroute her or give her a push. Even when other preschoolers were occupying my attention when she wanted a push, she would sit and patiently wait on the tricycle, knowing that I’d come when I could.

That, my friends, is called perseverance. I think oftentimes when we’re faced with something difficult, we try to face it on our own. We oftentimes realize the hard way, that we’re not going to make it anywhere on our own (there’s a reason why John 15:5 says “without Me, you can do nothing”). If we’re smart and if we decide to endure, we resolve to let God push us over those rough patches. But in order to let our Father push us, we must pick our feet up off the ground and start pedaling. That way, we can be helped over difficult surfaces, and rerouted when we hit a wall. And when the going gets smooth again, we can lean into the momentum from the push—enjoying the fact that it’s easy and also resting in the fact that when it gets hard again, all we have to do is look at the Father, pick our feet up off the ground, and start pedaling (for He’ll be right there and He always has been).

James 1:3-4 When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.