Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3-4
Every time I read the scripture above, I think of how determined these men were to bring their friend to Jesus for healing. These men exemplified tenacity by finding a unique way to approach Jesus.
Tenacity is defined as the quality of being very determined or persistent. Tenacity calls up a picture of holding onto someone or something for dear life. Its a picture of holding on with all one’s strength against overwhelming odds. It makes me think of a God that holds his children tenaciously and in return, his children hold onto Him just as tenaciously.
Tenacity is about so much more than not giving up on a goal. It’s about pushing through barriers of self doubt and having the willingness to persist against all odds. It reminds me of The Little Engine that Could.
In order to demonstrate tenacity, we should start with an attainable goal, something that requires a new skill, something just out of our reach. We make that goal , then go on to add more and more difficult goals.
The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. We had a situation this summer on our family vacation that is an example of tenacity to me. After eating dinner at a restaurant, we were all boarding Lee’s boat for the ride home. The boat, which had been on a journey of its own, was wet all over. (That’s another story.) As Randy stepped down into the boat from the dock, his foot slipped, and he landed sitting straight up on the bottom of the boat. Now, to appreciate the horror of this moment, one must know that Randy has had two knees and two hips replaced, one hip just two months before.
The family group grew deafeningly quiet as we looked on in surprise, horror, and a little disbelief at him sitting on the floor wedged in between a seat and the side of the boat. We were all thinking the same thing, as we stood in anticipation of calling 911, “How can we get this man up?” Suddenly, before we had time to react, Randy was standing up! It seems that our grandson, Drew, had taken charge. He put his two hands underneath Randy, and he lifted that 240 pound man to his feet!
Drew made the decision to act as the rest of us stood not knowing what to do! His goal was evidently attainable for him, but probably a little higher goal than he would have anticipated!! That’s tenacity!! Amelia Earhart said, “We are capable of so much more than we realize.”
Randy’s perspective said it all, “I was mentally checking off each new joint to make sure it wasn’t damaged when suddenly, two strong arms came underneath me and pulled me up.” Just like those friends who were tenacious about getting their friend to Jesus for healing, God is like two strong arms who are underneath to support and care.
In this day and time, we all need to cultivate a quality of tenacity! We are all capable of doing so much more than we believe to be possible, and if we act instead of waiting in an situation or during a momentous problem, we find ourselves developing tenacity, two strong arms, and a will to help others.
Three young boys were asked to give a definition of faith that illustrates the important aspect of tenacity. The first boy defined faith as “taking hold of Christ,” the second as “keeping our hold on Him” and the third as “never letting go of Him”. That’s tenacity!