Got a little rain today! Noticed a little greening on the grass so maybe it was a enough for some relief for things growing. We really need a good soaking rain. Today was so bright and blue and sunny. The sky had thin wispy clouds, pulling apart till they disappeared on the horizon. I perched in the swing for a while, enjoying the songbirds’ symphony, then retreated to my reading chair as the day’s heat turned up.

At sunset Mother Nature started an orange wildfire with her watercolors and the fire caught, blazing up till it met the pale blue of the late afternoon sky. The surrounding clouds, banking the horizon line, were brush stroked with pale pink and purple watercolors. The fire burned down to a pale apricot glow as the sun, dressed in her orange sequined gown, walked down the horizon on the arm of Father Sky. Father Sky waked the waxing gibbous moon, pinned him high in the night’s sky, and surrounded him with handfuls of twinkling stars. The twilight sang a lullaby to the day’s light and the darkness waked as the daylight waned.

“By perseverance, the snail reached the ark,” Charles Spurgeon. This little quote has been stuck in my brain since I ran across it this morning. The definition of perseverance is continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. Is perseverance an inherent trait or something we are taught? I can see the little snail, slowly crawling along, being passed by all the other animals. But he didn’t give up, he persevered because he knew God had a place for him on the ark.

I think perseverance is something we learn when we face the trials and challenges of life. We pray for strength and believe God’s grace will sustain us. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

We’re not promised life will not have stumbling blocks and pain. We have to be firm in our belief in the commitments of God’s faithfulness and his grace. When we’re challenged we need to have the strength and resilience to trust in the Lord. We have to pray, ask God for help, and accept his answers to our prayers. Every time we persevere through hardships and suffering in life we become closer to God. James 1:12 reads, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

God puts adversity in our lives to teach us to lean on him in times of trouble. Sometimes God lets us endure hardship so we can bring hope to others who are also suffering. Perseverance is not an easy journey. Like the little snail that kept on crawling, with the ark as his goal, we have to keep pushing through our challenges and look for joy and gratitude through our faith in God. God is there to help us through any trial. God is always in control.