Why You Can't Quit Before the Harvest

You can have faith, you can have knowledge, you can even have self-control. But without perseverance, you'll quit right before your breakthrough. And I've seen too many people water their seed for four years and walk away right before the fifth year when everything was about to explode.

Let me tell you about the Chinese bamboo farmer. He plants a seed. Waters it, fertilizes it for the first year. Nothing happens. Second year, he waters and fertilizes. Still nothing. Third year, fourth year:no visible growth. But in the fifth year? That bamboo shoots up to 80 feet in a few weeks.

Often times we never see our flourishing because we stop watering. God was working things out for you, but you stopped believing. You stopped training. You stopped working because you wanted instantaneous breakthroughs. We want Netflix. We want on-demand. We want next season now.

But anything worth having takes time.

Your Dark Season Is Producing Something

Remember Polaroid cameras? You could produce a picture right before your face. But there's a season where the Polaroid has to go into a dark room. And when it's in the dark room, all the negatives are being stripped off.

People only see you now, but didn't see your dark seasons when God was stripping you and preparing you for this moment.

Years ago when football didn't work for me, I worked at Walmart. Yes, Jomo G. Cousins was at Walmart in the evenings wearing a red shirt that was too small, sitting outside in a cubicle doing people's taxes. A lady who went to Florida A&M with me walked up and said, "Jomo, is that you?"

How many big Black Jomos do you know? Come on, you know it's me.

She said, "Jo, I can't believe you're here at Walmart." I said, "Neither do I. But I understand where I am. I'm a diamond in the dark waiting for the light to hit me."

Though you may be in a bad spot, never lose confidence in who you are. It's only a matter of time before God shines His light on you. And though she saw me where I was, I knew who I was.

When God's developing you, you may not look like a finished product. But as long as you know God's hands are on you, this too shall pass. God is doing a work in you. Come back in a few years.

The Widow Who Wouldn't Quit

Today I want to teach you about perseverance through a woman in Luke 18. Throughout history, women have been marginalized. There was a season where women couldn't even vote in this country. They're often not paid on the same level as men. But in this story, we're going to see a woman who goes past all the limitations and gets what she wants.

Jesus was telling His disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart (Luke 18:1).

Have you stopped praying about the thing you used to pray about?

What happens in life is when you're in the birth canal of prayer:when you don't see light:you may think God isn't in it. And you have to understand the Bible says to pray and not give up.

The challenge is some prayers take longer, and you get frustrated and say, "Lord, it's not Your will." Let's deal with that. If it's in the Book, it IS His will.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1):that's His will.

"No weapon formed against me shall prosper" (Isaiah 54:17):that's His will.

"I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health" (3 John 2):that's His will.

So His will is in His Word. You never have to ask what God's will for your life is because His will is in His Word. When you have a faith fight or you're struggling, get the Word on it. Then you got the will on it. Then you work the Word.

The Judge Who Had No Fear of God

In a certain city there was a judge who didn't fear God and had no respect for man (Luke 18:2). Sometimes you'll encounter bosses or superiors who have no respect for God or for man. And if you're not careful, you'll allow them to discourage you.

So when I've had situations like this, I go to Proverbs 21:1: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and like rivers of water He turns it wherever He wishes."

You have a raggedy boss? Father God, I thank You right now that Your Word says in Proverbs 21:1 that his heart, her heart is in Your hands. Turn that thing around because I understand that though you may be my boss, I know who your boss is.

Be careful how you talk to me. The Bible says, "Touch not God's anointed, do His prophet no harm." I might go to Daddy. Don't do this to yourself.

Desperation Makes You Bold

There was a widow in that city who kept coming to the judge saying, "Give me justice and legal protection from my adversary" (Luke 18:3).

Desperation often pushes you past what you usually do. Have you noticed if you go to a gas station in a low-income area:the hood:there are many different salespeople who don't work for the gas station? And they're so bold.

"Hey man, your car ran out of gas?" "Hey man, I'm hungry." "Your shoes are dirty, I can wash them for a dollar."

The broke person is bolder than the person who has stuff. They have no shame to ask. This woman said, "Listen, all you can do is tell me no. Everyone else told me no."

For those of you in business or sales: I eat "nos" like Cheerios. All they can do is tell me no. You have not because you ask not. You might be one "yes" away. You don't know.

She Wore Him Out

For a time the judge would not help her. But later he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God nor respect man, yet because this woman continues to bother me, I will give her justice. Otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out" (Luke 18:4-5).

Then the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not our just God defend and avenge His elect, His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? I tell you that He will defend and avenge them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find this kind of persistent faith on earth?" (Luke 18:6-8).

When Jesus comes back, will He find a thirsty, radical, crazy person who believes God can do the impossible? Will He find this kind of faith?

If you see somebody rolling like you want to roll, wearing what you want to wear, blinging like you want to bling, flying like you want to fly:it's possible. Why not you?

God is no respecter of persons. He's a respecter of faith. If God can do it for him, God can do it for you. If God can do it for her, God can do it for you.

Building in the Pandemic

We started that new worship center in the pandemic when I was preaching to empty chairs. People came to the building and said, "Man, you preaching so hard. Is there anybody in the building?" They looked in the window. Nobody in here. I'm sweating, preaching by faith.

Then they said, "Why would you build a new worship center when the chairs are empty?"

Well, guess what? If Noah waited for the rain, it'd be too late. You got to build before they come. That's what faith is. If you're waiting for everything to be perfect before you make a move, it's too late. You got to bust the move when nobody believes in you, when nobody sees it.

Now people drive by and pastors say, "Man, y'all did it." I said, "We didn't do it. God did it."

When you trust Him when you can't trace Him or track Him, He'll blow your mind. But you cannot wait for everyone to pat you on the back and say, "Do it."

Everything paid off. No debt. Eight million in the bank. And now all the services are full. "Oh, we need a new building." Well, guess what? In about five months, by faith, we'll break ground.

So here's the question: When God comes back, will He see faith in your life?

Ask, Seek, Knock

Hebrews 11:6 says it's impossible to please God without faith. For those who come to God must first believe that He exists and believe that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

If you're not in faith for something, you're not pleasing God. So ask yourself: What am I in faith for? Is it healing, restoration, your business, your marriage? You got to be in faith for something because if you're not, you're not pleasing God.

Matthew 7:7 says: "Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you."

I created a t-shirt for this that says, "Get your ASK up." Everywhere I wear it, people are like, "What'd you say?" I said, "Read. Please read."

Get your ASK up means you stopped asking. You stopped going after it. You have settled. No, no, no. Get your ask up.

A-S-K is an acronym: Ask. Seek. Knock.

You asked, but you didn't keep asking. You sought, but you didn't keep seeking. You knocked, but you didn't keep knocking. Your job is to ask, seek, knock. God opens the door.

What happens sometimes is we stop asking, stop seeking, stop knocking, and then wonder why the door hasn't opened. The prerequisite is ask, seek, knock. Then the doors open.

Some doors have not been opened because you stopped asking, you stopped seeking, and you stopped knocking. So whose fault is that?

For everyone who keeps on asking receives. He who keeps on seeking finds. And to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.

Michael Jordan said it wasn't about the shots he made, it was about the mentality of shooting the shots he missed. He said, "The reason why I beat more people is I'm persistent. I'm just gonna keep shooting."

You allow frustrations of not making a shot to stop you from shooting your shot. But how do you become a better shooter? You got to shoot more.

Five Keys to Perseverance

Let me give you five practical keys:

1. Get Planted

Psalm 92:13 says, "Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts."

If you planted a seed today and dug it up every day to see if it grew, will it ever grow? If you go to the gym in January and drop off three weeks in:which is the national average:and you stop going, will it work for you?

A lot of people get in with God, get out of God, get in with God, get out of God. But here's the challenge: God knows the count.

It's like when you go to Publix and pull a number for the deli. Your number is 18 and you see people in front of you. You get frustrated and leave. When you come back, you're not at 18 anymore. You're at 38.

In God's economy, God knows your number. You get frustrated with God and come out of line. Then you come back to God and He says, "Okay, go back." Then you get started moving with God, then something bad happens and you do this yo-yo system. Therefore you never see growth because you're in and out.

If you sow every day, there'll be a time where you reap every day. But if you're inconsistent, now you have inconsistent blessings.

I'm living my life in the overflow because I'm going to live my life consistently.

Psalm 1:1-3 tells us the blessed person doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, doesn't stand in the path of sinners, doesn't sit in the seat of scoffers. Instead, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and he meditates day and night. He'll be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in season.

Notice: Walk, stand, sit. That's how you get caught up. You're walking past the club, then you're standing outside the club, then you're sitting in the club. It's progressive. You don't just fall into stuff. It's a process.

2. Embrace Your Challenges

One of the things people mess up on is we get frustrated when God is testing us. I called my mentor when I was really frustrated about my life. He said, "Jo, why you tripping? All it is:God added another 45 pounds to the bar. Breathe and push it out."

God is growing your faith. How does God grow your faith? By allowing you to go through seasons. Stop complaining about your season and just grow.

The children of Israel complained about their season. They were on a 12-day journey. God got mad at them for complaining and said, "You'll be here 40 years." It should have only been 12 days, but it ended up being 40 years because they complained.

God does not care about your comfort. He cares about your growth.

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect, complete, lacking nothing."

My faith development comes through trials. I don't like them. So here's what I do when I'm in a tough season: Lord, reveal to me what I need to learn here. Show me the area I need to develop in this season versus complaining about it.

Complaining is not going to change it. Lord, what am I supposed to learn in this season so I can hurry up and get out of this season?

Romans 5:3-4 says, "But with joy let us exalt in our sufferings, knowing that hardship produces patient endurance, and endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope."

What you're going through is building something in you. God is saying, "I'm trying to grow you. I'm trying to build something in you."

3. Don't Rely on Your Own Strength

Isaiah 40:31 says, "But those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength and power. They will lift up their wings and rise close to God like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not get tired."

Eagles know when storms are coming and they just open their wings up and allow the storm to take them higher.

Trees develop their root systems in storms. A tree knows when a storm is coming and it starts to dig deeper to develop its root system. So sometimes you don't realize that God created a storm to develop your root system.

4. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

Remember when Peter got out of the boat to walk on water? The Bible says as long as his eyes were fixed on Jesus, he did not sink.

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us strip off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us."

Notice what he says: Strip off every unnecessary weight and the sin. Why does God put weight before sin?

In Psalm 51, David said, "I was born into sin." Through one man Adam we are all born into sin. So sin is a preexisting condition. The weight is your choice.

Some of us have not reached where God called us because you're carrying your mama, your daddy, your son, your cousin. That was not your cross. You start to carry crosses that don't have your name on it.

You start helping people God didn't tell you to help, but you're doing it because you want to be a good person. But have you finished your race yet?

Have you ever seen a sprinter with a bookbag? Have you seen a marathon runner carrying luggage? If you're trying to run the race, you can't carry extra weight.

Erica Badu had a song, "Bag Lady." You're about to miss your bus carrying all those bags. Whose bags are you carrying that you should have checked? You have to make a decision: Whose weight are you supposed to carry?

5. Remember Your Perseverance Will Be Rewarded

James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who is steadfast under trial and perseveres when tempted. For when he has passed the test and been approved, he will receive the victor's crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

We're not just persevering out of nothing. God has a crown with your name on it.

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we do not give up or quit."

The Boulder Story

I'll close with this. There's a story of a man who was really sick and praying to God to heal his body. One night he had a dream. In the dream, he saw a vision of God saying, "I want you to go outside and push against that boulder in front of your yard."

So the next day, he got up and started pushing against the boulder. He did it for weeks. He did it for months. After eight months of pushing, he said to himself, "I wonder if this is even doing anything."

He got a tape measure and measured from his house to the boulder. The boulder hasn't moved.

He cried out to God, "God, what are You making me do? Was it even You?"

And Jesus said, "It was Me. Let's talk. When you prayed to Me, you were sick and weak. I want you to go inside and look in the mirror. You got pec muscles now. You got arms now. What you realized was I never asked you to move the rock. I wanted you to push against the rock."

The greatest training there is is resistance training. I had to put enough resistance against you to grow you.

Sometimes in life, you're asking God to move stuff. And God's not trying to move stuff. He's trying to move you.

When I go to my gym and pick up my weights and do curls, I realize my arms change but the weight didn't. The weight wasn't supposed to change. I'm supposed to change.

Sometimes God's allowing you to go through seasons because He's trying to do some change in you. So whether you want the change or don't want the change, don't worry. He's still going to knock on your door.

Either you can embrace the change or the change is going to deal with you. But change is coming.

The Goldsmith's Reflection

There's a story of a goldsmith. They asked him, "How do you know when the gold is purified?" The goldsmith said, "Well, I put it in the fire and I pull it out and look at it. I put it in the fire and look at it. When I see my reflection in the gold, it's done."

God's going to keep you in the fire until He can pull you out and see His reflection in you.

God will do it whether you want it or not. The question is: Lord, use me. Purify me. I want to be a willing vessel to be used by You.

You're going to stand before God one day. All of us are going to stand before a righteous God and God's going to say, "You were so close and you got out of line. Then you got close again and you got out of line."

You're not going to cheat God. He knows the beginning and the end and He knows the purpose He has for you. And for you to maximize who He's called you to be, you have to go through the fire.

Change begins with you.

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