Passion to Persevere [Part 1]

Allen Wright, pastor, Bible teacher, and author of his latest book, The Power to Bless. What's important determines what you will endure and what cost you will pay and what you'll do. And so you just look at your life and you go, well, how do I know what my priorities are? Well, just look at your life and you'll know. You'll just instantly know. It's just that simple. So instead of just getting more committed to saying I need to persevere more, what we really need to do is just become more attuned to what's important.

I think that's a big part of what Nehemiah is all about. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light.

I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Second Wind as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. A copy of Pastor Alan's book, Lover of My Soul. This can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries.

As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAllen.org. That's PastorAllen.org. Or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Allen Wright. Are you ready for some good news? Whatever God has called you to do is greatly important. And the more you see its importance, the more power you'll have to persevere. To have something important doesn't mean that it is about wealth and fame and prestige. It just means that every single person in Christ, you know from God's Word that He's given you very important things that your life is to be about.

And it differs for each of us. And as we are in a new series I call Second Wind, all about persevering, enduring on, finding renewed energy when you've been through a lot, just like we've been through this worrisome year of pandemic. And today we want to dig down to this kind of sense of the fuel that's underneath perseverance, and that is understanding the importance of your life and all that God's doing in you. And a great place to learn is from the story of Nehemiah, who really is the last piece of historical narrative in the Old Testament before we get to Christ. This scene is, these chapters are taking place in the fifth century B.C., around 445 B.C. And Nehemiah is part of what we call the third wave of exiles that have been able to return from their exile in Babylon back to Jerusalem because of the Persian Empire's policy that they let people go back to their own homes. And Ezra went before Nehemiah, started rebuilding the temple, and then Nehemiah gets a sense of a call from the Lord to go and rebuild the broken down walls. And all along the way throughout the book of Nehemiah, you see not only leadership principles in Nehemiah, but you also see that he faces opposition, and there are many lessons to be learned from this. And ultimately, of course, as we see in every page of the Old, there is something that points us to the new and to Jesus, who is the better Nehemiah. So let's look first at Nehemiah chapter 6, verse 1. Now, when Sambalat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built a wall, and there was no breach left in it, although up to that time I not set up the doors in the gates, Sambalat and Geshem sent to me saying, come let us meet together at HaKatharim in the plain of Ono. Now that ought to tell you something right there. Don't meet anybody in the plain of Ono.

Just say Ono to the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm. He saw what was going on with this, okay? And verse 3, I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.

Four times. I'm doing a great work and can't come down. I'm doing a great work, I can't come down. I'm doing a great work, I can't come down. I'm doing a great work, I cannot come down. Will you say that with me? I'm doing a great work, I cannot come down. That's a good response to the devil, isn't it?

And every way the devil manifests in all the spiritual battle that we face. That there's something that if you get in touch with how great the work is that God has going on in and through you, that lesser things can be put aside more easily, and you can keep on going. You know, think of a time in your life when you stuck with something despite obstacles and the temptation to quit. What was it that kept you kept going? What made you just not throw into town? Something and you thought it was important enough.

That's bottom line. I love all the stories of people that just stuck with it. I think of a boy that was born in Chicago in 1901, raised in Missouri, fourth son among five siblings, father was allegedly abusive, brothers ran off one by one, and he found solace in drawing pictures. He lied about his age to become an ambulance driver during World War I, and after the war he became an apprentice at a Kansas City commercial art studio, but he was fired for, quote, lack of creativity. His brother, Roy, and he launched a cartoon business, Laphogram Studios.

It went bankrupt a couple years later. I'm talking about Walt Disney. In fact, his whole life is just full of all these failures and then keep coming back. After he had gone bankrupt in his Laphogram Studios, Disney packed up his bags with $40 to his name, went to Los Angeles to try acting, but he failed. He convinced his brother, Roy, to join him out west to set up shop again, and created a character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a successful character in a one-reel film that did well, and looked like things were really looking up for the Disney brothers, but he went to New York to meet with producers there and renegotiate his contract, and when he got there he realized the producer had pretty much stolen all of his animators, and had stolen the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

And so he had to get on the train and ride the long ride back to the west coast, disappointed and literally back to the drawing board. And it was on that long, disappointed train ride that Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse, who is eerily similar to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, if you can notice. He was originally called Mortimer, but Disney's wife said call him Mickey. I'm really glad that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit got stolen away, because it just wouldn't work to have millions of kids from all over the world coming to get their picture taken with Oswald.

It just doesn't work as good as Mickey. After years of eating beans and driving up debts, seeking bankers 300 times to get some funding to do a feature film with Mickey, finally one bank said yes, and they started a feature film with Mickey Mouse. And somewhere along the way Disney, by his own admission, had something of a nervous breakdown. He took some time off, returned to work, and decided he wanted to do a full length animation film that would be a new creation, a new thing nobody had done. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and even his own family said don't do it. Everybody said it will fail.

Nobody encouraged him to do it, but he went ahead and did it. And it became a huge success. And so he made other films after that. Although now, their beloved, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi, were terrible failures at the box office.

And once again, Disney is running out of money. So his big dream was to build an amusement park, Disneyland, and when he stuck with it, amazingly, and when it opened July 17, 1955, there were more forged tickets than there were real tickets that day. It looked like a stampede. They were expecting 11,000 people and 28,000 people came. And it happened to be a 100 degree day in Los Angeles.

They said the asphalt was melting the women's heels, the water fountains didn't work, most of the rides broke down, and critics called it Black Sunday. Nobody thought it would work, and the rest is history. You know, I guess I tell all that story because they're just, it's inspirational to think about someone that sticks with something just because they think they've got a great idea. And what I want to just talk to you about is that as part of building the kingdom of God and advancing the kingdom of God, if there's a man who can stick with it because he has a vision of a magic kingdom, how much more so we who really have the spiritual truth of what really matters most in life, and each one of us has a part of it. And so if you can discover how great the work is that you're doing, then the fuel for persevering is going to come along.

That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. who has searched for true love, which you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of the five love languages, says, The incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in lover of my soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart. Accept Christ's proposal, enjoy his embrace, revel in his love.

After all, it's a match made in heaven. It's Lover of My Soul by Alan Wright. The Gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. You know, you often hear it said, we do what we want to in life. And a lot of that is true.

I mean, unless you're under some sort of slavery or being forced to do something. I mean, we prioritize all the time, whether we realize it or not. And it's amazing how easily we can reorder our priorities if something comes along that we think is more important. And that's what we do.

Whatever we think is more important, we just, we reprioritize and we do that thing. And I remember some years ago, it was happening in my life. I guess my favorite sporting event of the year is the Masters. It's played at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. For golfers, it's like a Magic Kingdom. If you've ever been on the grounds of Augusta National, it's just a beautiful place.

I mean, you go get the places where you tromp through and get your concessions or go to the restroom. The grass there is nicer than any of the most manicured lawns we've got in our town. And all the best golfers from all the world come to compete for this coveted green jacket.

And it is, in the famous words of Jim Nance, a tradition unlike any other. I just love the Masters. When I was in seminary in Atlanta, back in that day, you could go over and just buy a ticket and go to the practice rounds. That's when people are just warming up.

They're not even playing real rounds. Now, even the practice rounds, it costs over $1,000 to get a ticket and just go to a practice round. And it's very hard to get a ticket to this. In fact, there's only two ways you can get it unless you spend a zillion dollars. And that is, one, that you enter a lottery. And there's such a small chance of winning in the lottery.

I've never even entered it. But you can enter a lottery and a few people get the right to buy tickets. Or you have badges that are tickets that you already have. And if you're a surviving spouse, you can inherit your deceased spouse's badges.

But other than that, they go back in the pot. I mean, you can't get these things. And so, and some years ago, a dear friend said, I've got some master's badges and I wanted to see if you wanted to go. Do you think you could make room in your calendar? I didn't have to look at my calendar. I mean, some things you don't have to look at your calendar. You say, I can do that.

Yeah, I'm good to go. I mean, as long as there wasn't a death and it wasn't Easter Day, that'd be my only conflict. It's like, sometimes the Master's Sunday is on Easter Day. And I'm like, that'd be a real dilemma for me. No, I think I'd preach, I think I'll preach on it.

I think I'll preach on Easter Day. But other than that, if it's not a death, then yeah, no, I don't even have to look at it. Isn't it funny how you can just reorganize your life like that? It's amazing when something's important, right? And sometimes it comes because there's a crisis. And you're like, I need to act and I need to act now. I mean, everything else falls away, right?

And sometimes it's because of a great joy. But every day of our lives, we're making priority decisions. And so the key is getting those priorities lined up with what really matters and taking some time to evaluate what those are to you. Some years ago, I was going to go and do a conference in Tyler, Texas. And the plan was I was to speak at a fundraising banquet for a counseling center on Friday night.

And then Saturday was going to be an all-day shame off you conference. And I'd been interacting with the head of that ministry for a long time. And we'd set this up many months in advance.

On the day of, I got to the Charlotte airport along with Jeff Deaton, who was traveling with me. And there was very clearly a lot of chaos that was going on. And we realized all of a sudden, looking at the screen, our flights had been essentially canceled. They'd been postponed for like seven to eight hours.

There was no way that we were going to make it that night. So we had to go get in line at the ticket counter. And the line was too long.

The line was moving so slow. And I started realizing I got to do something. I had never missed a speaking engagement ever in my whole life. And I was like, I'm not going to miss one now.

I mean, that's not fair. These people, you know, there are going to be people at this banquet tonight. I mean, what are they going to do if I'm not there?

They don't have a plan B. And I said, I got to get there. And I'm not proud of this, but I broke in line. I just broke in line. I just broke in line. I'm sure somebody else has something more important to get to, but I just kind of sneaked around. I broke in line. I got up to the, and I said, listen, my flight's been canceled.

So I need you to put me on a different plane. And Jeff is there, thankfully, you know, kind of trying to keep me calm. Because I wasn't that calm. I was getting mad at her. And she said, well, we didn't cancel it. We postponed it. And therefore, we can't give you another ticket.

And we can't put you on another airline. I said, no, you effectively canceled this. And I said, you know, anyway, I didn't think I was that bad. But she did say, am I going to need to call security?

She did say that. I was mad. I was mad. And so I finally realized there was no, they weren't going to help me. And so I had to go over and get on my phone, looking for different flights, go to a different airline, and try to make a flight that was getting ready to go out. And the only way I could do it was to spend $700.

So I just spent $700. Now why would you do that? I've never missed a speaking engagement. I wouldn't go and miss it that night.

It wasn't fair to them. And I was just going to get there. You see, you take your, what's important determines what you will endure and what costs you will pay and what you'll do. And so you just look at your life and you go, well, how do I know what my priorities are? Well, just look at your life and you'll know.

You'll just instantly know. It's just that simple. So instead of just getting more committed to saying I need to persevere more, what we're really going to do is just become more attuned to what's important. I think that's a big part of what Nehemiah is all about. You know, the variety of ways in which we decide what's important. I mean, some people decide on things that are important that in God's point of view, they're just not important at all. I mean, you think about a lot of the ministry of Jesus was in conflict with the Pharisees and the conflict was what they thought was important. Jesus was saying that's just not important. The Pharisees thought it was really, really important, for example, to not disobey any jot or tittle of the law, which included not eating unclean animals, animals that had been declared to be unclean, which in that list of Jewish law was the nat.

And so what the Pharisees would do is they'd take their wine and they'd pour it through a very fine filter before they would drink it to make sure that they didn't accidentally have a nat that got into their wine that they accidentally swallowed. And all the while, they're missing out on loving people and pointing people to the truth, which was Jesus himself, and showing kindness and mercy. And so Jesus said, you're blind guides.

He said, you strain gnats, but you swallow camels. You're obeying the little jots and tittles of the law that's not important, and you're missing what really is important. So people can devote their whole lives to something and persevere with it for something that just really wasn't important actually in God's eyes. So the key is not just finding something that's important, but finding the thing that really should be important. And I think it's worthwhile to evaluate that, you know, what's important to me. How does it, you know, and I like to think about that. We don't just let it just fall into place.

I mean, we talk about that, right? And not just in terms of just what you do with your financial budget, but just what you do with your life. And, you know, there's some things that are important to us. I mean, we decided, you know, family's important to us for a lot of different reasons. We just love family, love our extended family.

We make a lot of decisions, a lot of sacrifices, you know, to do things with family. We think because of the long-term, you know, benefits of that and joy of that and also the design of God. That's just something we think is important. You know, everybody finds things you think are important. I think, I think what I'm saying is that to say I'm doing a great work and I can't come down is to say that I have found some tremendous importance in what I'm doing.

And so other things become less important and that's part of how we persevere. Alan Wright, today's good news message, passion to persevere in our series Second Wind. Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio as he shares his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. God's love, you've heard about it with your ears.

You've believed it in your mind. Now experience it in your heart with Alan Wright's beloved book, Lover of My Soul. The Bible is a love story from beginning to end. You are the spiritual bride of Christ, the perfect bridegroom. The Bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you, to win you and to walk with you hand in hand. For any man who has fallen in love with a woman, you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like. For any woman who has searched for true love, what you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of the five love languages says, the incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in Lover of My Soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart. Accept Christ's proposal, enjoy his embrace, revel in his love.

After all, it's a match made in heaven. It's Lover of My Soul by Alan Wright. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back now with Pastor Alan and our parting good news thought for the day. And that phrase, you do what you want. I think passion is driving that. What do they say if you are doing what you love, you'll never work a day in your life, and that kind of keeps you going? Part of the passion to persevere is simply rooted in a deep sense of clarity and call that this is what I'm supposed to be doing, and therefore my heart takes great delight in it. Nehemiah, when he felt called to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that were so torn down, he led that effort against all obstacles, against all odds, because it was so deep within him.

It wasn't something he was having to think about. He knew how important it was. And when you have that, then the perseverance part, it almost takes care of itself, doesn't it, Daniel? I think the things that I've really persevered in, it's not so much like, okay, I don't really want to be doing this, but just I'll doggedly somehow dutifully persevere. It's much more like, I've got a great passion for this. And like Nehemiah, we can say to all of hell, I'm doing a great work. This is a great work.

This is a work of God. This is important to do, and I cannot come down off of this wall. So maybe, listeners, that's the best thing for you to say when you start getting discouraged. Speak to yourself. Speak to the negative voices that come and the tempting voice and say, I'm doing a great work. In Jesus' name, I can't come down. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.