Success from Perseverance

Hebrews 12:1b, "Let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us."

I have been reading a book by Debbie Macomber, who is one of my favorite authors. In this book, Knit Together, she tells of her years of struggling to have her writing published. She wrote, "I am a case study in how to be an overnight success in twenty years."

School was difficult for Debbie. Her third grade teacher predicted that she would never do well in school, and she was never an outstanding student. It was only after Debbie was an adult that she discovered that she had a learning disability, dyslexia.

Debbie married just out of high school and had four children between 1970 and 1975. She and her husband struggled financially during the early years of their marriage. Nevertheless, Debbie felt compelled to write, believing that God had given her this passion.

By 1992 Debbie had written four books that had never been published. She submitted one of these books at a Writers' Conference. The conference leader ridiculed the plot of her book in front of the class and advised her to throw the book away. Several weeks later Debbie sent that same book to a publisher, and it became her first published book. This success finally came after five years of constant rejections. Today more than 60 million copies of her books have been sold, with nineteen appearing on the New York Times bestseller list. Debbie Macomber's success story is one of countless others revealing what can happen when we have faith in God's purpose for us, work hard, and continue to persevere.

God has pledged Himself to persevere with us, saying, Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Our part is to have faith in God and His plans for us, to work hard, and to continue to persevere in our spiritual lives--to keep on praying, keep on reading God's Word, and keep on sharing God's great Good News with those we meet.

Thank You, Father, that You are continually working on us to transform us into the very likeness of Christ. May we be malleable in Your hands and cooperative in every way with Your work. Amen.