On August 19, 2003, 15-game-winner, Mark Mulder left the mound against The Boston Red Sox with a stress fracture in his hip. And when he did, the hopes of a 4th straight playoff bid for the Oakland Athletics left with him—or so the pundits said.

Even with their usual push toward the finish line, it looked like the A’s couldn’t beat the odds against them, until Ted Lilly walked into Manager Ken Macha’s office on September 21, 2003 and asked for the ball. Lilly “sucked it up” and took the ball before anyone thought he would be ready and lead the team to victory, but more than that, his win began the last surge of momentum necessary for the A’s to win the American League West for the second straight year.

Lilly wasn’t the only person working through pain. Outfielder Jose Guillen went back into the line up with a broken hamate bone in his left hand and Catcher Ramon Hernandez played with several injuries, waiting until the team won the rights to play in the post-season to take a rest.

Trainer Larry Davis said, “Mind over matter. Like I’ve always told guys, if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. If you don’t mind the pain and you can get past it, you can do a lot of things.”

—http://athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/oak/news/oak_news.jsp?ymd=20030922&content_id=538987&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

Galatians 6:9 NASB “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.”

If anyone had a reason to give up, it would have been Lance Armstrong. Lance was a world-class cyclist, one of the rare Americans competing in the elite road races of Europe.

In 1996, the twenty-four-year-old climbed to the number-one ranking in his sport but was then diagnosed with testicular cancer. The cancer had metastasized and spread to his lungs and brain. Few expected him to survive the disease.

Yet in the summer of 1999, Armstrong not only recovered from the cancer but even went on to win the most prestigious race in cycling, the Tour de France. Cynics called it a fluke, because some of the best cyclists sat out the race due to a doping scandal. Few believed he would win in the year 2000, when the best cyclists would be back and the course would be more mountainous. But he not only won in 2000, he won by a whopping six minutes!

In interviews and a best-selling book, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, Armstrong has repeatedly stated that what had been his greatest adversary, the cancer, became his advantage. After recovering from cancer, Lance was forty pounds lighter. While he bulked up some in the recovery years, he has remained leaner than ever before. This weight loss made a difference in Armstrong's biking and played significantly into his becoming a three-time Tour de France winner.

It is easy to become discouraged. Sometimes all of us feel we are all alone, no one to stand by us; no one to help us out. Bonnie Richardson of Rochelle, Texas must have felt like that many times. Coming from a town of only 162 people, in a high school of 58 students, with only two other girls to join her on the track team, Bonnie must have felt very isolated.

Bonnie has continued her pursuits in the face of those heartless people who call out insults and yell things at her like; “Are you sure she’s a girl? She doesn’t look like a girl!” They call her names such as Monster, Shamu, Sasquatch, or Big foot. Even her classmates, family, and friends call her “The Beast” and “Canoe Shoe.” Bonnie takes it all in stride and allows it to empower her to achieve at even higher levels.

She worked at her academics and her athletics. She didn’t let her troubles keep her from becoming class valedictorian and qualifying for the state 1A track meet. Her two teammates did not qualify so Bonnie was the sole member of the team. Competing in five events, Bonnie did very well. In fact, when all the points were counted, Rochelle High School won the Texas State 1A championship. Yes, Bonnie, as the only person on her team, made enough points to win the team championship.

What an amazing story. It should serve as a reminder to us to be persistent in whatever task God has given us to do. Now I know that there’s no “I” in TEAM, but that doesn’t negate the fact that one person can accomplish a lot.

--Sports Illustrated, September 28, 2009. P. 57-66. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Hebrews 12:3 (NASB77) For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.

In August of 2012 NASA landed a rover on the surface of our neighboring planet Mars. It should provide some good research and fantastic pictures for some time to come. It is not without some persistence and patience that it is there. Of the 41 missions sent to Mars by various space agencies, 26 have failed.

“The failed spacecraft have blown up in Earth’s atmosphere, gone awry or silent on the journey through space, crashed on Mars, or failed to operate after landing.”

If something is important enough it may at times be necessary to try, and try again. We must not grow weary and quit the important tasks. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Galatians 6:9 (HCSB) “So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.”

PERSISTENCE

Alexander Cirk ended up in a Chinese hospital after spending ten days in an airport waiting for a woman he met on the Internet. Cirk came to the airport hoping to meet a 26-year-old named Zhang. After waiting eight days, he told a local broadcaster than he would not leave until his “girlfriend” arrived. After ten days with nothing to eat except instant noodles and soft drinks, Cirk collapsed and officials took him to a hospital for treatment. At that point, he said he was still determined to meet the mystery woman. The broadcaster located a woman who claimed to be Zhang and she said she was not able to met Cirk due to recent cosmetic surgery. Though Cirk tried hard to met her, he eventually returned home without setting eyes on Zhang.—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Dutch man's 10 day-wait at Chinese airport for woman ends in hospital, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-airport-romance-idUSKCN10G1PR, Accessed August 5, 2016.

Romans 8:25 (HCSB) “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.”

A British family said they’ve used the same string of Christmas lights every year for 48 years and none of the bulbs have ever burned out. Ross Shaddick said his 68-year-old-mother Vina bought the lights when she was a teenager in 1969. She used them for years and then gave them to her son for him to use each Christmas. The lights currently adorn Shaddick’s tree.—Jim Wilson and Jim Sandell

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Sloane Stephen was crowned the 2017 US Open women’s singles champion. She became the lowest ranked player (83^rd in the world) to ever win the title. This was a remarkable feat since she had a rollercoaster rise to the top. In 2013, she reached her highest ranking as a professional at number 11 in the world. After several disappointing finishes in some major tournaments she suffered a right foot stress fracture in 2016. Sloane underwent surgery on her foot on January 23, 2017. After recovering from surgery, she returned to the tennis circuit in July 2017. Despite all the disappointments Sloane persevered to become the US Open champion on September 8, 2017. —Jim L. Wilson and Calvin M. Tucker

He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

Akitoshi Okamoto, a 71-year-old Japanese man, was arrested recently for apparently calling a phone company 24,000 times to complain. He was taken into custody for inundating KDDI Corporation’s customer service department with toll-free phone calls over an eight-day period. Apparently, he wanted an apology from the company for violating his contract.

No matter what you think about his motivations, and how he went about his method of complaining, you can’t doubt his persistence in wanting a response to his complaint. Perhaps we can learn from this in our persistence in prayer.—Jim L. Wilson and Derick Wilson

Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray always and not give up. “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect people. And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’ ”

Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to his elect who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay helping them? I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”