PUSH: Persevere Until Success Happens Through Prayer (17 page)

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left paralyzed.

In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged. All he could do was move one finger and decided to make the best use of it. He slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating that he wanted her to call the engineers. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For thirteen years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm until the bridge was finally completed.

Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of overcoming physical odds to achieve an “impossible” goal. The belief of one man who was able to inspire the faith of others left a lasting tribute to the power of commitment and courage. Often the obstacles we face in our day-today life seem to loom larger than life, but our daily hurdles are really small in comparison to what others who have conquered the odds throughout history have faced. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realized with determination and persistence, no matter the odds.

If you are holding this book and reading it, you probably have all your fingers. What is preventing
you
from “tapping out” your vision and dreams? When your reach seems to exceed your grasp, this story should remind you that even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence. And remember,
“Nothing is impossible with God.”
With a little help from above and a little faith in your heart, there is nothing impossible for you. So push!

Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
—P
HILIPPIANS
3:14 KJV

Anything is possible if a person believes.
—M
ARK
9:23 NLT

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit – rest if you must, but don’t you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns. As every one of us sometimes learns. And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out. Don’t give up though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup; and he learned too late when the night came down, how close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt, and when you never can tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems afar; so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit - it’s when things seem worst, you must not quit.

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.
—M
OTHER
T
ERESA

P
eople often say a person is lucky when he or she achieves something notable, makes a scientific breakthrough, writes a brilliant best-seller, breaks a longstanding record, rises to the top of their game, distinguishes themselves in a specific discipline, receives accolades for the successful completion of an assignment, starts a prosperous business, or accomplishes anything at all. They feel that these are people who have gotten all of the breaks at the exclusion of everyone else.

In reality, neither “lucky breaks” nor “fate” have anything to do with success and prosperity. Luck is not an ingredient in the secret formula for success. So-called “luck” is usually found at the exact junction where preparation, diligence, and hard work intersect with needs, problems, and opportunity. For a time, an individual may get ahead by “pulling strings” or dropping names, but eventually someone with discipline, consistency, and passion will displace him or her.

Success, prosperity, and great accomplishments are not the results of a fortuitous plethora of lucky stars bestowed upon these individuals at birth. Instead, they are the direct results of a series of deliberate activities these people undertake and disciplined steps they consistently make, lit by the kindling of drive, determination, and passion. These are the winning attributes that lock shoulders to the grindstone of hard work.

Diligence and persistence are the primary ingredients of the “secret formula” that fuels their drive and enables them to push past the thresholds of pain, fatigue, and discouragement in order to realize their dreams and accomplish their goals. The world, however, is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. Helen Keller said, “I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.”

In the Garden of Eden, the first assignment given to man was to work. He did not have a car note, mortgage, school fees, utility expenses, or cell phone bills. Therefore, work was not associated with something that was unpleasant. Work was a means by which he could maximize his potential while securing wealth, luxury, and extravagance.

In the seventeenth century, Francoise de Motteville wrote in her memoirs, “The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find in it our pleasure.” Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” Because ability has no value without opportunity, it is therefore the opportunity to work that gives us our truest success. Ephesians 5:16 tells us to
“make the most of every opportunity
” (NLT). And we read in Proverbs 22:29:
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.”

Power is manifested in potential. Just like a tree sleeps in an acorn and a house awaits its day of manifestation asleep in the limbs of a tree, so do your business ideas, books, and ground-breaking discoveries lie dormant within the womb of potential. Adam was given the potential to become a world leader and millionaire. He had only begun to maximize his potential through the work he engaged in. What is the seed of potential waiting to be birthed through your power to work?

Adam accomplished his assignment because of the glory (anointing) that was permanently upon him. Because of that anointing, he was equipped with the capacity to give (and remember) the names of
“all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field”
(Genesis 2:20). Work was God’s divine opportunity presented to him in order to maximize his potential and mandate. Through God’s divine challenge to name every living creature, Adam became industrious and resourceful—he tapped into his potential. With the knowledge acquired from his experience, Adam was able to perceive truth from error, develop self-discipline, and persevere with confidence because he was achieving God’s original mandate for his life. He was prosperous and successful through his God-given creativity, imagination, and industry.

Challenges were divinely given to Adam to maximize his potential. As he rose to the challenge, latent abilities and talents were activated. The Garden of Eden became Adam’s laboratory for personal growth, economic development, and educational reform. Adam discovered that the greatest secret to success was to expand his knowledge and stretch his mind. He was diligent to work his mind and then to follow through with his work mindfully. He was never underemployed or unemployed.

The solution to unemployment is work. Sometimes when we lose our jobs, we have been given a divine opportunity to work… our minds, that is. Set your mind to work on manifesting the divine potential inherent in your power to work.

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swear unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
—D
EUTERONOMY
8:18 KJV

C
harles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After seventy-five combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. One day, decades later, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man from another table came up and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier
Kitty Hawk
. You were shot down!”

“How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb.

“I packed your parachute,” the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!”

Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about the man he met that day at the restaurant. He kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. He wondered how many times he might have seen him and never said, “Good morning,”
or asked,
“How are you?” because he was a fighter pilot and that man was just a sailor. Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each individual parachute—each time holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Who’s packing your parachute? Every successful person has someone who has their back and helps provide what they need to make it through the day. This is the power of relationship. Who do you have in your life making sure you have a properly packed parachute?

Not only that, when you are shot down over enemy territory, you’ll need several kinds of parachutes ready to open and convey you to safety. When your life is hanging in the balance, you will need to rely on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual parachutes. You will need all of these to reach safety. Who within your relational constellation can you rely on to pack each of these parachutes?

Life often throws us curve balls and surface-to-air missiles that can bring us into emotional, mental, and spiritual lows. In order to survive, we need to recognize, acknowledge, and thank those individuals in our lives for providing us a functional parachute. If you do not have those kinds of people in your life, pray and ask God to send them. Remember, though, you must become a parachute maker for others too, because those who will have friends must show themselves friendly (Proverbs 18:24).

Genuine relationships are important. There is an art for building them and a recipe for maintaining them. Let’s take a closer look at the elements needed to pack a life-worthy parachute that will carry you to safety when you are shot down.

In the Bible, Paul pointed out that life without love is worthless. Love is the ultimate reason why we are all created. Relationships are based on love. In fact, God’s relationship with the human race is based on love too:
“God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son”
(John 3:16). Certainly, this is the greatest expression of love ever. This kind of love is not based on feelings; it is a decision that requires sacrifice. Love is your commitment to the people important to you; it is unselfishly giving up what you have for the benefit of someone else.

According to Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.” Any relationship built upon love weathers the harsh challenges of this human life. We know that
“if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us”
(1 John 4:12). Now that is a powerful thought!

If love is the foundation, then honesty is the framework of any quality relationship. For a loving relationship to succeed, sincerity, honesty, transparency, and openness are a must. A relationship seasoned with lies, misrepresentations of truth, or deception will never grow. Honesty is the only thing that sustains and feeds a truly life-giving relationship.

Honesty evolves out of personal integrity. I have learned that integrity is telling myself the truth while honesty is telling the truth to others. You must be honest with yourself and with others—if you are not, you are compromising your relationship with God.

“I trust you.” These three words carry almost as much weight as “I love you.” In fact, they are almost synonymous. When we commit to developing a trusting relationship, we must let down our guards, walls, and fences so that other people see our vulnerability, and that can be very difficult and uncomfortable. But when we learn to trust at a deep level, we open up, let others see our wounds and fears, and allow them to help in the healing process—and vice versa. When people bestow their trust upon you, based on genuine love and honesty, you must do everything in your power not to break that trust. Once you do, you may attempt to piece your relationship back together again, but as with glass or china, you will always see the crack.