When I was a little boy I told my mother I'd never learn how to read. Learning to read was a struggle. I wanted her to stop trying to teach me. Giving up seemed easier. If I gave up I could then spend that time playing more Nintendo. I already knew how to play Nintendo. Why complicate things with all this reading business? Well, Mom didn't give up on me. She taught me how to read. Years later she reminded me how I'd said I would never learn. It seemed a foolish thing to say upon reflection years later. It seemed like the absolute truth at the time.
Why do we give up on ourselves so easy? Why do we lose faith so fast? These are good questions! We ought to contemplate them.
When I was a little older, and had learned how to read quite well, I thought riding a bike must be the most difficult thing to do in the world. I knew I'd never get it right without falling after a few fleeting seconds of pedaling. With my dad's help and perserverance in not giving up on me I learned how to ride a bike. The first time I rode without falling was a moment of triumph I haven't forgotten since.
At the age of seventeen a large part of me wanted to be happy because a large part of me was not. I thought misery would be the road I'd travel for the rest of my life. This time it wasn't Mom or Dad that could help me out. This time my self doubt was something they couldn't fix. This time I needed God and I knew it. True happiness arrived at the doorstep of my heart on a night in May of 2002 when I accepted Christ in a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I've known happiness ever since!
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that so many times in life we doubt that we will be able to learn this or do that or be this or accomplish that. We have a choice. We can give up hope. Or we can persevere. My mother taught me how to read. My father taught me how to ride a bike. God saved my life and gave me happiness while also teaching me how to share it with others.
So, now I'm twenty-five with a new area of doubt in my life. A part of me doubts that I will ever get to fall in love and take a wife. Well, to this doubt I remind myself that I love to read books, I learned how to ride a bike quite well, and I'm a very happy person!
I will persevere. I won't give up hope. I'll keep having faith! And, by the way, with God nothing is impossible!