Patience and Persistence Will Bring Success

“But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” Habakkuk 2:3 (TLB)

If I don’t make plans in life, I'm just going to drift. In Genesis 24, the story of Eleazar gives helpful steps for getting where you want to go.

We’ve already learned why it’s important to:

• Determine your present position
• Describe exactly what you want
• Find a promise from God
• Ask God for help
• Identify the barriers
• Create a step-by-step plan

Here's another step: Be patient and persistent.

Accomplishing big goals in life isn’t going to happen overnight. The bigger my goal, the longer it will take. The more significant my goal, the more time and energy will be involved. Reaching goals takes time and discipline. 

Nothing great is ever accomplished without patience, persistence, determination, and endurance. I need to set big goals and spend the rest of my life going after them. 

Eleazar did this. Genesis 24:21 says, “The servant watched [Rebekah] in silence, wondering whether or not the LORD had given him success in his mission” (NLT). And Genesis 24:33 says, “Then food was served. But Abraham’s servant said, ‘I don’t want to eat until I have told you why I have come.’ ‘All right,’ Laban said, ‘tell us’” (NLT).

He was an example of great patience and persistence.

Here’s the point:  For me to reach my goals, I'm going to have to learn how to delay gratification.  

The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do things unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.

Successful people often do things they don’t feel like doing. Successful people know how to delay gratification. They do the right, tough thing before they do the fun, enjoyable thing.

The Living Bible paraphrase says, “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” (Habakkuk 2:3). 

God says it’s going to happen—but it’s going to take a while. One of the marks of maturity is learning the difference between no and not yet. 

And God is more interested in what I am than what I do. He’s much more interested in my character than my career. Because I'm not taking my career to heaven. I'm taking my character. So while I'm working on my goal, God is working on me.

In summary:

Achieving big goals takes time, discipline, and endurance. Success requires delayed gratification—doing the hard things first. Like Eleazar in Genesis 24, I must stay focused and trust God’s timing. Maturity means recognizing "not yet" is not "no." While I pursue my goals, God is shaping my character.

 

Don’t Drift Through Life

“This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife.” Genesis 24:14 (NLT)

In Genesis 24, Eleazar provides an example for how to be successful as you pursue the dreams God has given you.

I need to —

• Determine my present position
• Describe exactly what I want
• Find a promise from God
• Ask God for help

I must also identify the barriers between myself and my goal. Ask , “Why don’t I have it already? Why am I not who I want to be? What’s between me and this goal?” 

Write down the roadblocks. Are the obstacles—financial, educational, emotional, relational, or something else? 

Look at the roadblocks honestly. Faith does not deny reality. Faith says, “Yes, I see the problem, but I believe God is bigger than the problem.”

Once you identify the barriers, create a step-by-step plan. That’s what Eleazar did.

The Bible says, “Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master. . . . He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water. . . . ‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham,’ he prayed. ‘. . . This is my request. I will ask one of them, “Please give me a drink from your jug.” If she says, “Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!”—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife’” (Genesis 24:10-12, 14 NLT.)

What is Eleazar doing? He’s looking for a woman of character, and he’s got a plan:

1. Go to the watering well where the women hang out.
2. Set up the test to see if she will offer water to his camels too.
3. If she passes the test, give her expensive gifts.
4. Ask about her family.
5. Get invited to her home.
6. At her home, share his purpose.
7. Pop the question. 

He had a simple, step-by-step-by-step plan that he thought out in advance. 

I need to do this too. I need to think through a course of action to address the roadblocks I wrote down. If my obstacles are educational, how can I get the training I need to reach my goal? If my obstacles are relational, how can I heal a relationship to achieve my goal?

Achieving a goal is a lot of work, but the alternative is to drift through life. If you drift, life will be determined by other people—it will be done to me rather than having me direct it. So create a plan today to reach the godly goal God has given me.

In summary:

In Genesis 24:14, Eleazar provides a model for achieving God-given dreams through prayer, planning, and action.

To succeed, I must:

✅ Determine my current position

✅ Clearly define my goal

✅ Find a promise from God

✅ Pray and seek God’s guidance

✅ Identify and address roadblocks (financial, educational, emotional, etc.)

Faith acknowledges obstacles but trusts God is bigger than them.

Eleazar followed a step-by-step plan to find a wife for Isaac, ensuring he was intentional and prepared. Similarly, I need a structured plan to overcome barriers and achieve my goal, rather than drifting through life.

Take Action: Write down challenges, create a plan, and move forward with faith and diligence.

Learning to Do Exactly What God Tells Me to Do

“Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.” Genesis 7:5 (NIV)

Noah didn’t just hear God’s Word; he acted on it. He lived life according to God’s will.

Am I doing that? Do I ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do today? What do you want me to do in this meeting? What do you want me to do with this opportunity?” Noah always sought God’s guidance in his actions.

If I lived in Noah’s time and God asked me to build an ark. I'm sure I'd have some big questions. Here are four:

What’s a flood? The Bible says it had never rained before Noah’s time. Genesis 2 explains that God watered the earth from below, like morning dew. When God told Noah about a flood, it was a completely unimaginable concept.

How do you build an ark? In those days, there were no hardware stores or home depots. Noah had to cut and prepare every single piece of timber himself. That’s why it took decades to build the ark.

How do you move a massive ark to water? Noah lived far from the ocean. The Bible says the flood came not just from rain but also from underground springs bursting forth. The waters rose long after the rain stopped, solving the problem of moving the ark.

How do you gather all the animals? If God created the universe, bringing animals to Noah wasn’t a challenge. The real miracle was Noah’s obedience. Genesis 7:5 says, “And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him” (NIV).

What can I learn from Noah? God blesses obedience, even when it doesn’t make sense. Faith means trusting God when I don’t fully understand his plan. In life, I’ll face tempting shortcuts, especially during long periods of waiting or discouragement. Noah waited 120 years to see God’s plan fulfilled. His persistence reminds us that God’s timing is perfect. Don’t take shortcuts—trust and obey him completely.

“[Noah] obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family” (Hebrews 11:7 NCV). God honors unwavering faith and total obedience. When I follow his commands without compromise, he will bless me beyond my imagination.

In summary:

For me, this passage encourages living with a heart of obedience to God, even when His plans don’t fully make sense or when the path ahead seems uncertain. It challenges me to ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do today?” and to seek His guidance in every decision, big or small.

Just like Noah, I will face situations where God’s instructions seem difficult or unclear. But the message here is that God honors unwavering faith and obedience. Even if I don’t understand the full picture, trusting in His timing and following His lead without taking shortcuts is key.

In my own life, it might mean persevering through challenges or long waits, trusting that God’s plan is bigger and better than what I can see in the moment. When I choose to obey, even when it’s tough or doesn’t make sense, God will bless me in ways I can’t imagine.

Listen to the Voice of God, Not the Voices of Doubt

“It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see.” Hebrews 11:7 (NCV)

Voices of doubt will try to dissuade, detour, and derail me from my purpose in life. I must listen to the voice of God, not the voices of doubt.

Imagine Noah’s life—building a battleship-sized ark in his front yard while everyone else carried on with their lives. His neighbors must have thought he was crazy. “What’s this guy doing? Building the Queen Mary in his yard? Where’s the homeowner’s association?”

Even Noah’s family probably questioned him.

His sons might have said, “Dad, the ark is embarrassing. Why can’t you get a normal job? Everyone’s laughing at us!”

Could you endure that kind of ridicule? Noah did, for decades, with no encouragement. But he listened to God, not the doubters.

Dream busters will always show up in life. Critics, cynics, and even loved ones may question my God-given vision. Often, they’re wrong. 

But the biggest dream buster is often myself. The words I speak to myself matter. If I talked to my friends the way I talk to myself—saying things like, “I’m no good,” “I should’ve known better,” or “I’ll never succeed”—I wouldn’t have any friends.

The truth is, we lie to ourselves all the time. The Bible says, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9 NLT). We convince ourselves things are fine when they’re not, or hopeless when they’re not. That’s why I must listen to God—because he always tells the truth.

Hebrews 11:7 says, “It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see” (NCV).

Notice the word “heard.” Noah trusted what he heard from God, even though he couldn’t see the future. Similarly, I can’t see my future, but I must trust God. His Word is my guide. Faith is believing in what I can’t see—my destiny and my eternal future.

The Bible says, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT). 

Focus on what lasts forever, not on temporary troubles. Noah’s faith was counter-cultural, standing against the disbelief around him. How did he maintain such faith? He heard God.

You might say, “I don’t hear God!” The solution? Get closer to him.

The Bible says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV). Turn off distractions. Sit quietly. Pray.

Only when I draw near to God can I truly hear his voice. Listen, and follow him. “Noah . . . walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9 NIV).

In summary:

Faith requires trusting God's guidance, even when faced with doubt and ridicule. Like Noah, who built an ark despite mockery, we must focus on God's voice and not the negative voices around us. Doubters, including ourselves, can hinder our dreams, but by listening to God’s truth, we can persevere. Faith is believing in what we can't yet see, and to hear God clearly, we need to quiet distractions and draw near to Him. Trusting God's direction will help us stay focused on what truly matters—our eternal purpose.

Pain Can Make Me Better or Bitter—It’s A Choice

“So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” 1 Peter 4:19 (NLT)

When people go through tragedy and disaster and pain, some turn to God. But others turn away from God—even when he’s offering the comfort and power they need to make it through a difficult time.

How pain affects me depends on how I choose to respond to it. I am going to let that experience make me bitter, or am I going to turn to God—and let the pain make me better?

Jesus didn’t come to explain away my pain. He came to share it.

He enters into my pain. He is a God who suffers with me and walks with me through whatever I'm going through, whether it’s emotional, physical, relational, or spiritual.

Some Christians think that it’s never God’s will for me to suffer and that if I have any pain in my life, it means I don’t have enough faith.

This is far from the truth. Sometimes I'm just going to suffer. Sometimes I'm going to have pain that is part of God’s will. The Bible says, “So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you” (1 Peter 4:19 NLT). 

Pain is inevitable. It’s a part of life, even for Christians. The choice I get to make involves whether or not I will waste my hurt. I can choose whether it will make me bitter or better.

Next time I'm experiencing pain ask God: “Are you using this pain to guide me in a new direction? Are you using this pain to spur me into action? Are you using this pain to show me what I need to work on? Are you using this pain to guard me from something more harmful? Are you using this pain to grow me and make me more like you? Lord thank you that you will never waste my pain. Please help me trust you as I follow you in faith.”

Let whatever pain I may go through guide me into the caring arms of Jesus Christ.

In summary:

Pain is inevitable, but how we respond to it shapes our growth. 1 Peter 4:19 reminds us to trust God during suffering, knowing He will never fail us. While pain is a part of life, it’s a choice to either let it make us bitter or better. Jesus shares in our pain and offers comfort, helping us grow and become more like Him. We can trust that God will use our pain for good, guiding us and teaching us through it.

How to Have Lasting Change

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 (NIV) To have lasting change, I need to refocus my mind. Specifically, I need to change my thought patterns away from what I don’t want to focus on and toward what I do want to focus on. Because whatever I focus on is what I move toward.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2 NIV). This is the blueprint that is needed in order to change your thought patterns:  “Do not conform” – How often do I let other people shape my life? God doesn’t want me to be like someone else; he wants me to be the person he made me to be. So don’t copy others, don’t conform, and don’t try to be like anyone else. “The pattern of this world” – Pattern means the model of everything I've learned in life. If I want to change, I have to replace the blueprint I learned in life. I need to swap out the old, unhealthy pattern with a new one modeled after the life of Christ. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” – Transformed is the same word used for metamorphosis, the process a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly. In the same way, God wants to transform me into a completely new person by renewing my mind.  How does this happen? The Bible tells you in Ephesians 4:22-24 “to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (NIV). This means I have to do some putting off and some putting on—and the putting off has to happen before the putting on. It’s just like trying on clothes in a store. Before I can try on the new stuff, I need to take the old stuff off. I can start today by asking God to help me begin to let go of the old attitudes and thought patterns I’ve been living with. Then get ready to put on the new garments God has for me. In summary: Lasting change begins with renewing the mind. Romans 12:2 emphasizes the importance of not conforming to worldly patterns but transforming through a renewed mindset. This involves replacing old, unhealthy thought patterns with a Christ-like blueprint. The process of transformation is like metamorphosis, requiring us to first "put off" the old self before we can "put on" the new. By asking God for help, we can let go of negative attitudes and embrace new, righteous thinking.

 

To Grow, I Must Choose to Change

“Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.” Ephesians 4:22 (NLT) Change requires making choices. It’s not enough to dream of changing. It’s not enough to desire change. To change, I need to make a decision. I must choose to change. Change is intentional. Am I going to be any different in six months? Am I going to be better a year from now? Am I going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature? Am I going to be happier? Am I going to be more like God wants me to be? These changes will only happen if I choose to change—because change doesn’t happen accidentally. Change requires a choice! A lot of times I think we’re waiting on God to change me. No! God is waiting for me. He’s waiting on me to say, “Yes, Lord, I’m willing to make these changes.” I will need to make intentional choices in order to grow. There is no growth without change. There is no change without loss, and there is no loss without pain. If I'm going to grow, I will have to change. And change means that I let go of some old things in order to grab hold of some new things. It’s like swinging on a trapeze. The trapeze artist swings out on one bar and then has to reach out and grab the other one. At some point, he’s got to let go of the first one in order to grab the next one, or he won’t make it to the other side. If he tries to hold on to both, what happens? He gets stuck in the middle, and he will fall. I to am stuck in the middle, and falling because I haven’t let go of the old patterns, the old habits, and the old ways of thinking. I have to let go of my old ways. The Bible says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life” (Ephesians 4:22 NLT). In other words, let it go. Those old habits, those old hurts, those old patterns, those old sins in my life—let them go. Throw them off and trust that God is working in me “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13 NIV). In summary: Change requires intentional choices. To grow and improve, I must actively decide to make changes, as change doesn't happen by chance. It involves letting go of old habits, sins, and patterns to embrace new ways of thinking and living. Just like a trapeze artist must release one bar to grab the next, I must let go of the old to move forward. God is waiting for me to make that choice, and though change can be painful, it's necessary for growth. Ephesians 4:22 urges us to "throw off your old sinful nature" and trust that God is guiding us toward transformation. I will be intentional today, and not just think about it, but actually do it.