Article: It Takes Resilience

Each time I return to Lagos after being away for at least a week or two, I wonder how people are able to cope in a city of over twenty million. On our way home yesterday after a challenging day of errands and lots of time wasting, my wife and I spent over an hour and a half on a stretch that takes about a minute or less to drive through without traffic.

In eight years of living in Lagos, I have developed a deep respect for “Lagosians.” It is a feat to successfully run more than one or two errands in a day in Lagos. We spent almost two hours in traffic to go pick up a medical report from a hospital just to be told it wasn’t ready. These results were supposed to have been ready two days ago. Yet, we still find people who are able to put up a smile in the midst of the stressful rhythm of life.

The Scriptures are replete with lessons on the value of resilience or endurance. I love the illustration of the man who was asked by God to push a huge rock.  After pushing daily over a long period and seeing no tangible results, he got discouraged by listening to Satan’s voice. As a result, he stopped pushing. 

When God was passing by and found him sitting and looking downcast, the man expressed his frustration of not being able to move the rock. God then asked him what the assignment entailed. “Who asked you to move the rock? I asked you to push, not to displace the rock. That’s my part of the job, but you just have to keep pushing.” God then asked him to look at his body, and the man noticed that he had developed a lot of muscular strength because of the effort he put into pushing the rock. 

What is it that you have stopped doing because of the sheer effort involved and apparent lack of results? Especially those activities that are pleasing to God. Take heart and keep building emotional, spiritual and even physical strength through obedience to God’s Word.
*Hebrew 10:32-35; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: James 1:2-4: Romans 5:3-5; Galatians. 6:9; 2 Chronicles. 16:9*

Gilbert Kimeng