Lesson in Tenacity

It's lawn mowing season again. And you know what that means, that if you are a regular reader you have a summer chocked full of toe-stepping convictions that God will give me, as I am able to cut some blades of grass, and He does some much needed pruning on my heart as well.

This week's mowing message is brought to you by the word tenacity. Now this is not a new word for me, but when I searched for the definition, I found a different meaning than what I thought. I thought it meant to be stronger or to exhibit un-found strength. But what it means is "cohesive", or tending to; adhere or cling to, especially to another substance. Persistent in maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired. In my opinion, the real definition is way better that what I imagined.

You see God is calling me to do some hard things. In in own personal life, in my everyday journeys, in my faith walk. I have been on this path for a while but didn't really realize it until I was mowing. For the Reader's Digest version of my experience, suffice it to say, after getting heat exhaustion to the point of collapsing, I had to use an old back up mower to mow our 6 week growth of weeds and grass of epic proportions. The newer mower needs repair and won't be operational until the part arrives. (I am thankful I have a shade-tree mechanic hubs who loves a mower challenge when fixing small engines). Because of the jankiness of the newer mower, it was extremely difficult and exhausting to continue mowing. I had to rely on the older "piece-of-junk" mower then but I was just thankful that I had something that would knock the proliferate growth down a notch or two.

As I was mowing the yard, God brought the word tenacity to mind. When I researched the meaning, it was NOT the "I-didn't-know-that-I-had" strength at all. It was the fact that I adhered to the power of the mower to get the job done. But not really......and here's where I bring all this together. I adhered to God's strength to get the job done. After I was exhausted by the heat, there was no physical strength left. But there was a inner strength that I was given to get the job done. There's the tenacity, the clinging to God's strength when mine failed.

God will give you what you need, when you need it, when you ask Him. His strength is always enough. His answers are for our good. He can empower you to do the hard things, plus the easy things. He is strength. Cling to Him. He will never leave you and He will give you what you need. That's a promise that you can adhere to. Be tenacious.