Balance in life requires knowing what to give up and what to pursue. In recent
meditations, we learned of the need to give up our worries for several reasons. Giving
up our worries will lead to more robust health and general well-being. However, we
must never give up on pursuing our God-given goals or other worthy causes that we
set. Perseverance is often the difference between success and failure. Here is an
illustration of the point. Howard Carter arrived in Egypt in 1891 and set to work to
discover the tomb of King Tut who lived around 1400 B.C. The king died when he was a
teenager. His expedition was bankrolled by Lord Carnarvon. After five years of fruitless
search, Carnarvon was going to call off the search in early 1922, but Carter pleaded for
an extension of one year. That perseverance paid off as Carter and his team found
steps leading to the entrance of the tomb later that year. It was amazing to Carter and
Lord Carnarvon upon entering the tomb’s interior chambers on November 26, its
treasures were virtually untouched after more than 3,000 years.

Those who quit too soon are writing a memoir of failure inadvertently.

Anyone who wants something truly precious in life must hold on for it. Spectacular
things do not spring up suddenly. In the book of Jonah, the shrub that grew overnight
also perished overnight. Great and abiding things take a while. Jesus gave a parable of
a widow and an unjust judge. The widow kept coming to the judge for justice. After a
while, the judge backed down. This teaching encourages perseverance in prayer, but
the lesson applies to other areas as well. Those who quit too soon are writing a memoir
of failure inadvertently.