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I’ve been in several group retreats where we take a DISC profile (Personality assessment) and divide up into groups for discussion. One of the four traits is an “S” for stabilizing. When I place myself in a group, I never choose to be with the S’s because they look like nerds. The high S category is patient, predictable, passive, complacent, stable, consistent, etc – all character qualities I’m prone to despise. After one of these sessions, I came back to my motel room, looked at my own assessment and found I was highest in the S category. After the shock subsided, I knew I didn’t want to despise myself, so I asked the Lord about it. He spoke to me that I really was a high S, but that was the character quality for being tenacious; the things he had called me to do were pioneering by nature and he needed someone that wouldn’t quit (tenacious).
I might also add that we’re in a season of testing for many believers. God is shaking and preparing and perfecting his people for something great in the future. It feels terrible, but God will use it for good, and something glorious will be unveiled because of it. Hang in there.
Tenacity is a character quality and an aspect of faith in people who have learned to shape their future according their own heart’s desire. Faith is best expressed in persistence, diligence, perseverance, and determination. Having God in the equation doesn’t eliminate problems; it just means that one way or the other, we know we will eventually win. Giving up is not an option if we really believe that we are more than conquerors.
Tenacity is guarding the desires God placed in your heart. That dream defines His will in combination with your passion and destiny. The enemy would love to steal it or at least discourage you from making progress on it. Seeing your heart’s dream come true really is a wellspring of life. It’s worth guarding.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 NIV
What if I fail? – Before we develop the courage to take some new initiative or road less traveled, our hearts have to believe that, if we fail, we still have the inner resources to recover. Failure and trials are experiences everyone has. Successful people simply have the tenacity to recover after a failure and become Kings. Average people stop trying new things, and content themselves to be servants, letting others take the risks.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 NIV
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Num 14:24 NIV
Is this the devil or God? – When things go wrong, our minds start scrolling through the possibilities in search of an explanation. It could be enemy resistance, it could be unfortunate circumstances, or it could be God making an adjustment. Tenacity is the answer to all three. Circumstances and warfare require persistence and confidence to stick with the original plan until we get the breakthrough.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Heb 10:35-39 NIV
If God is offering some new direction or adjustment to our plan, then tenacity is required to seek Him, reassess the situation and find that place of peace with our new course correction. Our minds are computers that assess every negative possibility and work against peace. We have to learn to identify the desires on our own hearts and on God’s heart, and use our minds to “steadfastly” focus on what we want to happen in faith. Fear is simply the reverse: putting our mental focus on what we hope won’t happen. Our job is to shape the future in the image of the Kingdom. We simply won’t surrender to circumstances and evil. God never fails to speak to and lead us through every hopeless situation. He can make a way where there doesn’t seem to be one; as Kings, we can too.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Col 3:15 KJV
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isa 26:3
Dead ends and resurrections – There are times when we simply go down a dead end road, either from misreading our own heart’s desire or garden-variety stubbornness. This usually happens in an early phase of our Christian walk when our discernment is still developing. By the way, all of us have done this (everyone undergoes discipline). Fortunately, we have a loving heavenly father that comes after us and corrects us. Now whether that correction is a still small voice or a thrashing depends on our level of – you guessed it – tenacity. When God is through, we are broken in a good way. We have a choice: simply allow Jesus the rock to break us by falling on Him, or waiting for Him to fall on us and grind us to powder. I’ve tried both, and prefer the former! Once broken, we become much more pliable and sensitive to God, other people, and dealing with circumstances beyond our control. What’s left, or resurrected, is a tenacity born out of being on the same page with your Father.
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Luke 20:18 KJV
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Heb 12:7-11 NIV
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24 NIV
One note of caution: Brokenness is a healthy attitude of seeking the Kingdom first. Sometimes we are so fearful of getting out of God’s direction after being corrected, that we won’t consider our own heart’s desire. Don’t allow past failures to sabotage your future. Everything you and God do together to build the Kingdom will come through the desires of your heart. Kingdom is fun, not scary. It’s passionate, not monotonous obedience. It’s life, not religion.
Will you make it? – We have a saying in day trading which is a field of endeavor littered with shipwrecks. “The only way you can fail is to quit.” Life is not hard. Reaching your full 100-fold destiny is entirely with your reach. You really can make it. Would you like to share the “feeling” of someone touching their heart’s desire after decades of delay? Watch Susan Boyle. She could have stayed home!
Suggestion – (Coaching tools) Your dream is worth some one-on-one time with someone who can encourage you and help you to make it real. Your destiny is worth it! Putting your dream first is putting the Kingdom first. There really is a place where your heart and God’s heart overlap. That’s where “life” begins.
- Read Releasing Kings and Desire to Destiny (See our store page or Amazon.com).
- Get the free newsletter, connect on Face Book to stay in touch. We use Skype to talk to people all over the world. Networking is a huge Kingdom dynamic.
- List to the sound… Beverly Lewis and I discussed Kingdom impacts in an interview, “Have fun, make money and love people.” Listen to the recorded version here. Ray Edwards and I did a second interview that is just as good. Both are about an hour and give a great summary of marketplace ministry. Attend a conference if you can.
- There are two newsletters that summarize key elements of Releasing Kings: Have Fun, Make Money and Love People and A Kingdom Primer.
- Go through the coaching module and clarify your dream – if you’re stuck, we can help you from a coaching standpoint.
- Get connected with a coach or mentor who can help you take the next step.
- Create the wealth and convert the money into your ministry dream to build the Kingdom. God has already written something vital and unique in your heart.
