by Matt Sorger
Much like Agent 86, you are God’s secret agent, and your assignment is to save the world from chaos. Should you choose to accept this assignment, you may face some of the hardest challenges of your life. But God will provide you with the secret weapon you need to accomplish this task.
Living an extraordinary life filled with God’s power does not mean life will always be easy and trial free. Life is filled with its ups and downs. The up times are great, but it’s what we do with the down times that will really determine our ultimate destination. If we can learn the power found within our secret weapon, perseverance, nothing will be able to hold us down or keep us back from fulfilling God’s assignments for us.
Jane lay there stunned as her husband strained for his last few breaths of air. Just hours before everything was picture perfect. She was in the house relaxing from her day at work. Dan was in the garage working on some odd jobs. It was a warm summer day. The sun was shining, and the birds were chirping. The kids could be heard playing in the sprinklers on the side of the house. Laughter filled the air. Then suddenly, an uneasy feeling hit Jane in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t know why. She stood up from the couch and walked to the window to check on the kids. They were laughing and playing without a care in the world. She took a deep breath and sat back down on the couch, but the feeling wouldn’t leave her. Some time passed. Suddenly, the thought of Dan popped into her mind. She walked out the front door toward the garage area. All seemed quiet and serene. When she turned the corner toward the garage, she called out his name. “Dan?” Nothing. Just silence. Then her eye caught a glimpse of Dan’s arm. As her eyes came into focus, she realized Dan was lying on the garage floor. She ran over to him, calling out his name. As she knelt down next to him, she picked up his head and held him in her arms. With tears streaming down her face, Dan gasped his last few breaths of air. Then he was gone. Gone. Leaving a wife and two small children behind. Leaving a gaping hole of loss and pain. This scenario of loss can be played out many different ways. Life does not always go the way we plan. What do we do when life throws us a curve ball? We must keep on swinging. It’s only over if you quit and give up. I found out early on that you cannot always control your circumstances. Unfortunately, however, you can let your circumstances control you—and many people do. They are driven by the fleeting emotions of their soul based on what life dictates to them to feel.
But when God gives us His strength and power, He enables us to rise above the greatest adversity. Rather than being helpless victims, we become fearless warriors who can rise successfully to every challenge. Perseverance is one of the greatest keys to living an incredible, super-abounding life. Perseverance is what will get you to your ultimate life’s goals and enable you to release the hero within.
Never Give Up!
“Never give up! Never, never, never, never give up!” These words resound in my heart and mind to this very day. Quoting the timeless words of Winston Churchill, Dr. Benjamin Crandall, the president of the Bible college I attended, thundered these words during my ordination service into ministry. They have been a light to my path ever since. I have found along the way that life is dotted with many tempting parking places. It’s easy to settle down in a comfort zone. It takes courage and strength of spirit to keep going.
A dear friend, spiritual father, mentor, and champion of the faith, James Goll, had to walk through an extremely difficult trial. Sometimes we think that if we are living right and serving God, life will always be perfect. Well, we quickly discover that life is not perfect, and at times the Lord allows us to walk through some very difficult things. But one thing is for sure; God will always turn it for our good and work His perfect plan in the process.
James and his wife, Michal Ann, persevered through a fierce battle with cancer. They were both afflicted at the same time. She never stopped believing or trusting God, and neither did he. During worship at a conference someone walked up to him and handed him a card in a blue envelope and said, “This is a word to you from your wife.” He opened it up real quick and read the outside of the card. “Never, never, never, never give up. Winston Churchill.” He put it back inside the envelope, never reading the note on the inside, and stuck it into his Bible.
By the time he returned home from his meetings, his wife had already fallen into a very deep sleep on the verge of death. He had one last night to spend with his beloved. Their health-care giver stepped outside their room, and he got to spend the night alone with his wife. In the middle of the night, at 3:30 a.m., he got up and knelt by her bedside. He laid his head on her chest and said, “Honey, if you’ve got one last word for me, I really want to hear it.” He prayed for her and gave her to Jesus. As he wept over her and gave her back to the Lord, he watched over the next four hours as her body just slowly unwound. He was there as she left her body to be with the Lord in heaven.
After walking through all the funeral services with friends and family, three weeks later he found himself ministering in Korea. Although it was a very difficult time, he was fulfilling a commitment he had made to minister. While he was there, one night he dreamed about the card someone had given him before she passed and relived the moment. He realized that he never read the inside of the card. What did it say?
The outside of the card was a word to all of us. The inside was her word to him and their four children. The outside read, “Never, never, never, never give up.” The inside read, “I’ll never, never, never stop cheering for you.” Those were her last words to her beloved husband. No matter whether she was here on earth or in heaven, she would always be cheering for him. He would never forget those last words of encouragement.
Soon after James’s wife passed, he was declared cancer free. He was healed on this side of eternity; Michal Ann was healed on the other.1
No matter what our circumstances are...no matter what difficulties we face...God wants to help us finish our race to the end. We must never give up! Just as Michal Ann would always cheer for her husband, God is always cheering for us. You are on the winning side, and you must never forget that.
I love what Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”2
Many great men and women in history faced extreme trials, setbacks, and disappointments along their life’s journeys. They endured the hurtful criticisms of others. They had to hold on to their faith and trust their heart even when others said they would be nothing and would go nowhere. Some of the most seemingly insignificant people accomplished the most amazing things because of one thing: perseverance! They refused to give up no matter how hard it got. No matter how many times they failed, failure didn’t defeat them. Mistakes didn’t stop them. The quality of perseverance they possessed enabled them to turn life’s negatives into stepping-stones of radical achievement.
When, God? When?
When you are a person with a big vision, it can be challenging when things don’t move as quickly as you want them to. My first five years of ministry were spent as an assistant pastor. I had various functions, including counting the offerings, doing hospital visitations, and watching over the children’s programs, among other things. As time went on God began to give me a vision of stadiums filled with people being healed by the miraculous power of God. But the outlets where I was were very limited for this vision. I had rare opportunities to preach, and my full potential remained in a very confined place, much like David in the cave of Adullam.
Life can feel that way when you have a vision with no expression or outlet. This is where perseverance becomes crucial to get you through the in-between times. The in-between time is the time between the inception of your vision and its fulfillment. It’s where all the testing and trials happen along the way. A lot can happen during that time, both good and bad. But one thing is for certain, God will use it all for your good to fulfill His purposes for your life.
One day I heard of a young evangelist being used by God in spectacular ways. He had a flourishing ministry of miracles,
and his name was everywhere. I can remember reading a report of what God was doing through him. It’s not always an encouragement to your flesh when you are believing God for great things in your own life and you see someone else being extravagantly blessed while you apparently have nothing. It’s really just one big test.
I flopped my body on the couch and sat there having a party, a pity party. Why, God? Why? When, God? When? I was so discouraged. Why was God blessing him and not me? It didn’t seem fair. Well, life is not always fair, and we don’t always get what we want when we want it. But if we can learn to rejoice when others are blessed, our time will come. I have really learned this through experience. We waste so much time getting discouraged over other people’s success and blessing, we can’t enjoy our own journey in God. It really is true. When God sees us getting happy for someone else, He eventually pours out His blessings on us.
I soon got a grip of myself and began to thank God that He had a plan for me. I had a vision from God and was determined to see it happen. As I persevered and walked step by step in obedience to God, He began to open the right doors for me, put me in the right place at the right time, and made a way where there was no way. Now, years later, God has given me a thriving ministry that was birthed by a vision and walked out with perseverance. I learned a valuable lesson. Refuse to compare yourself with what is happening to others. Rejoice in their blessing, and your time will come.
The key? When things looked hard, I never quit. When doors didn’t open fast enough, I kept knocking. When crowds were small, I kept preaching. When people didn’t get healed, I kept praying. My perseverance paid off. Now, we have seen thousands healed by God’s power. God gives us the power to persevere, and it’s that perseverance that sees the power of God released and the promises of God brought to fulfillment.
I’ve learned this simple lesson while trying to open the front door of my house in the dark. It’s often the last key on the key ring that opens the lock. Sometimes you can’t completely see how to open the door that’s in front of you, but if you keep trying, eventually your perseverance will pay off.
Cross Your Mountain One Pebble at a Time
You don’t have to be perfect all the time to reach your destiny. You just have to persevere. No matter what comes your way, you can never give up.
Somebody once said, “Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path, and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” It’s the little things that can try to discourage you along the way.
Paul said at the end of his life in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.”
Sometimes life is a fight. If you simply make the choice to not give up when it gets hard, you will make it through to your finish line. Remember the source of your strength. In yourself at times you will feel weak and tired. You may even feel worn out on the inside. The best thing to do when you feel this way is to get before God in prayer and allow Him to strengthen you with His Word and His presence. This is how we make it day by day. This is how you finish your race, one prayer at a time.
Perseverance will enable you to finish strong. It’s not just about how you start. It’s also about how you finish. A lot of people have no problem starting something. But show me someone who has seen it through to the finish, and I will show you someone who understands what it means to be a champion.
After Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.” He kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home. Astaire once observed, “When you’re experimenting, you have to try so many things before you choose what you want, that you may go days getting nothing but exhaustion.” And here is the reward for perseverance: “The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it’s considered to be your style.”3
Many people start well, but somewhere along the way they lose sight of God and sight of their goal. They lose sight of themselves and of the values and principles that got them to where they are today. When you lose sight of what’s right and you let your convictions slip, it’s easy to walk down a detoured path that will miss God’s final destination for your life. Don’t get detoured. Finish what you start.
One of the activities I remember the most growing up was our family hiking excursions. My dad would take my mom and me out into the wilderness for days with just a backpack on our backs and canteens on our sides. We would hike deep into the mountain forest and traverse up and down over rugged terrain. Usually it was a fun and exciting adventure, but there was one trip I will never forget. I should have known better when I saw the name of the trail: SUFFRIN. Sounds a lot like suffering, doesn’t it? Well, that’s exactly what I thought just a day into it.
It was mid-July in New York, and it was hot and humid—not the ideal time to carry a fifty-pound pack on your back for eight hours a day, walking miles in the blistering heat. But thankfully my dad had a map! And on that map were the markings of where all the water wells were supposed to be, so we could refill our canteens. Each time we came to a water well, it was dried up from the summer heat. No water! Two days into the hike, there was no way we could turn around. We had to keep moving forward.
Leading out in the hike, I was following the little blue marks laid out for us on the trees, when suddenly the markers disappeared. Where did they go? I looked left, right, forward, backward. No markers. I was sure we didn’t take a detour. I was being very careful to stay on course. The only way left to look was up. We looked on the map and noticed that the trail my dad had brought us on was an advanced trail for serious hikers. We did not fit that category! No ropes and cables here, folks; just hiking boots and backpacks. Heavy backpacks.
Realizing the only way to go was up, we started on our climb with fifty pounds on our backs pulling us away from the wall. About halfway up I decided I would check out our progress. I don’t recommend this to anyone at home. The second I saw the tops of the trees below my feet, I was struck with panic and fear. I froze, clinging to the side of the mountain. As terror seized my heart, I let out a guttural scream. My mom became so nervous she went hysterical laughing. We have this little problem in our family. Nervousness makes us laugh. I inherited this wonderful trait from my mother. My dad, on the other hand, definitely does not possess this trait. He let out a few choice words. The more he yelled, the more we laughed. There we were clinging to the side of the mountain, my mom and me laughing hysterically, and my dad yelling beneath us. I began to plead the blood of Jesus and call on the angels to surround us. My mom said, “Matt, I’m sticking with you!”
I soon overcame my fear and dread and slowly continued to climb upward. We made it all the way to the top ledge. One by one we managed to hoist our bodies over the ledge to the flat ground above. I literally kissed the ground. I will never forget that journey. In fact, I don’t think we went back to the Suffrin trail ever again! My motto is, “If suffering can be avoided, then avoid it!”
We know in life we don’t always have the luxury of choosing what path we walk on. Sometimes we find ourselves climbing a mountain precipice wondering if we have what it takes to make it to the top. Other times we find ourselves in a deep ravine. This is where the power of perseverance comes into play. Without perseverance we’ll never make it successfully to the end of our journey. We might not like where those little blue markers take us, but here are some important lessons we can learn from my journey through Suffrin.
1. Never look back over your shoulder. Keep looking in the direction you are supposed to be going. This will decrease your chances of falling (Gen. 19:26).
2. Calm yourself, and remember that you are covered by God (Ps. 91:4).
3. No matter how bleak a situation may look, there is always hope if you persevere and refuse to give up (Prov. 23:18).
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br /> 4. God will give you wisdom and the tools you need to overcome in every situation (Acts 17:11).
5. You must make up your mind that you are never going back to where you came from. You must choose to continue to press on to high mark and prize of God (Phil. 3:14).
6. There may be moments of testing and trial you go through, but there is always an end in sight. Your situation is temporary (Ps. 30:5).
7. Never let fear stop you. Fix your mind on things above, and God will give you the courage to keep pressing forward to your final destination (Col. 3:2–3).
8. Life may go in directions you never expected, and you might feel you don’t have the strength to go on. Remember, when you are weak, He is strong in you (2 Cor. 12:10).
9. Never forget to laugh. Even in the most perilous of circumstances, the joy of the Lord is your strength. If I fell laughing, at least I would have died happy (Neh. 8:10).
Passing Through the Place of Contention
It is possible for you to press through to a place of breakthrough, if you don’t give up. I call this passing through the place of contention. Usually right before your greatest breakthrough is the greatest battle. I saw this in the life of our family just before my mom received her healing. On her way to the church for a healing service, she could hardly get out of bed, but she forced herself to do so. And that night she was healed!
If you feel spiritual pressure on every side, and if you feel like you are facing the greatest warfare of your life, hold on! Your breakthrough is just ahead of you. It’s right at the door.
We see this principle throughout the Bible. Before Isaac could go to a new level of fruitfulness in his land of inheritance, he faced this place of contention. In Genesis 26 we see that when Isaac sowed into his land of inheritance, God greatly blessed and increased him. Yet even with all of the blessing and increase he had, God still had more for him. God wanted to make him even more fruitful. And God wants to do the same for you. He wants to bring you from glory, to glory, to glory!
