Needed: Determination

Needed: Determination

Those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

When I was a child, one of my favorite books, which I now read to my two young grandsons, was The Little Engine That Could. The simple plot tells of a circus train needing to get over a mountain, but none of the strong engines could be bothered to pull the cars. Finally, the only engine left to ask was a small, unimportant engine. She had never been over the mountain and wasn’t sure she was strong enough to make the difficult journey. But she knew the waiting children would be disappointed if the circus train didn’t arrive, so she agreed to try. As she pulled the heavy load, she chuffed a determined little “I think I can. I think I can” with each passing mile. At last she made it to the top of the mountain amid cheers from the train’s occupants. Then as she started down toward the town, the little engine chuffed a happy “I thought I could. I thought I could.”

What if we carried that same determination when we looked at the mountains in our lives? It’s sad but true: We often won’t attempt a project because we are afraid we will fail.

My fifth-grade teacher wouldn’t allow the word can’t to be spoken in our classroom. If one of us muttered, “I can’t do this,” when facing a new math concept or trying to memorize a long vocabulary list, she would say, “Can’t is a coward, too lazy to work.” We had no choice but to tackle the chore. Amazingly, we usually found that starting was the hardest part and that the task was easier than we had anticipated.

Even in adulthood, we occasionally need the reminder to refuse to mutter, “I can’t,” and like that little engine, to make the choice to try. That may be the very fuel we need to get us over the next mountain. —SANDRA

Lord, too often I feel like the little engine that won’t even try. Help me to ask for your help and then go forward, determined to tackle the mountains in my life. Help me to run and not grow weary. Help me to hold on to the hope you offer.

Hope is a vigorous principle; it sets the head and heart to work and animates a man to do his utmost.

—JEREMY COLLIER (1650–1726), ENGLISH THEATER CRITIC AND THEOLOGIAN