Do not evacuate

In his book “Eating Problems for Breakfast,” Tim Handles shares a conversation he had with a wilderness scout named Bernie.

Late one afternoon as the blue western sky was beginning to fade into oranges and grays, he got to talk about the different experiences of people on his trips who became lost in the wilderness.

“I’ve had lots of people get lost up here,” Bernie said.

I responded, “That’s probably because they don’t really understand a map and compass all that well. Right?”

“Nope,” he said.

“Well, it’s probably because they are new to the wilderness,” I said.

Again, he replied, “Nope.”

“Then it’s probably because they are city folk and don’t know east from west,” I said.

“Nope,” he replied.

“Well, is it because they are out here for the first time and they are rookies and stuff?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said.

“Then it’s because they don’t understand the terrain,” I said.

“Nope,” he said.

I must have asked him at least a dozen more questions to which I kept getting the same simple answer, “nope.” My curiosity finally won out, and I said, “Well, then, how come they get lost all the time?”

“It’s because they don’t go far enough!” He said. “I tell them to go five miles and they go about three fourths of a mile and start turning left and right and end up all over the place.”

So you got a purpose in life. You’ve heard speakers or trainers like me emphasize the need to establish a purpose for living, so you decided to have one. And yet, why is it that you are still lost in the wilderness? Unable to get to where you’ve set out to go? The answer is simple, it’s because you have not gone far enough.

Many people still get lost in the wilderness even after deciding on a life purpose because they don’t go far enough. The slightest trouble or difficulty they encounter in life make them forget their plans and switch to something else, thereby causing them to miss their life goals completely.

In order for your life purpose to work, you simply have to go far enough to reach your goals in life. The one word that would describe this is called, “perseverance.”

Perseverance is defined as a steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a steadfastness belief. It simply means going far enough and finishing the race.

Students of history will always remember two famous figures during the Second World War. One is the villain Adolph Hitler and his dark reign of terror and the other one is the stubborn never say die, Winston Churchill.

During Hitler’s rise to power, Churchill had the formidable task of holding his country together. Despite the continued attacks of the Germans, Churchill refused to surrender, or even to negotiate with the Nazis. On more than one occasion, Churchill’s advisors and friends suggested that the prime minister might consider surrender or negotiation. But Churchill had a different philosophy about how to win. His simple motto was: “Wars are not won by evacuations!”

You know what? Life is not won by evacuation either.

No matter what purpose you have set out to do, no matter what goals you have established for each area of life, sooner or later you are going to be bombarded by obstacles. When they hit you, don’t evacuate.

You’re in the workplace. You’ve managed to stay clean and faithful all these years while everybody else has been compromising, don’t evacuate. Hold the fort.

You’re a person who upholds biblical values, you respect ethics and morality and struggle in the midst of pleasure loving people, don’t evacuate. Move on and persevere.

You’ve been married and your wife has remained faithful. Don’t evacuate. Close your ears to the enticements of your friends and co-workers alike.

God sees your clean hands and pure heart. So hold on to your faith, but do better than that, pray and ask for an additional dosage of strength from God who never runs out of grace. Don’t evacuate and move on.

The Word of God says this in Galatians 6:9 “And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.”

Good leaders never do. In other words: Don’t evacuate!

(Attend and experience two inspiring days of leadership training with Francis Kong in his highly acclaimed Level Up Leadership seminar-workshop this January 16-17 at SEDA HOTEL, BGC. For registration or inquiries contact April at +63928-559-1798)