Bacteria are very interesting microorganisms. Some of them are

very important for our immune system, but others are

infectious. The infectious ones infect people and cause diseases.

Highly educated scientists make disinfectants to kill these

bacteria by damaging and destroying their cell walls, but they

change the cell walls in such a way that they won't be killed by

disinfectants.

Pharmacologists, pharmacists and medicinal chemists put their

knowledge, skills, experience and expertise together, and

discover, design and develop antimicrobial drugs. The drugs

just work for a few years, during which time the bacteria mutate

and develop resistance to these drugs. Some even go to the

extent of becoming multi-drug resistant making it very difficult

for scientists to thwart their infectivity and virulence.

Why do bacteria do all this? But they are so small that they

can't be seen with a naked eye. Why do they always succeed?

Do they have brains like us? Do they go to school?

I can happily tell you that non of all known bacterial species

has even a single member of theirs who holds an honors degree

of some kind, let alone a doctorate, from any of the universities

on earth. So, why do they excel in every job they perform?

They even win most of their wars against doctors and

professors. Why?

Bacteria have got an extremely strong desire to infect people

and cause disease, they always think and dream of doing so,

they have unwavering faith, and last but not least, they are

persistent. They never give up. They persevere in whatever they

do until they get what they want.

There are some people who say: “Life is a wound, it heals on

the day you die.” I don't agree with them. These are the types of

people who can easily give up, or have already given up. Keep

an eye on them daily, lest they commit suicide. If life is painful

to you, you make it painful. You are the pain in your life. Why?

Because you do not persevere.

Be like bacteria. When a new drug is introduced, they begin to

mutate and develop resistance against it. They successfully do

so, and eventually excel in their task of causing chronic, acute

and fatal infections.

In the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, Abraham and Sarah

persevered and at last they were blessed with a son, Isaac.

When they got Isaac, they were both very old and Sarah was

past the childbearing age. “Now Abraham and Sarah were

old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of

childbearing.” NKJV Genesis18: 11.

David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, persevered and

eventually became the king of Israel. “And Soul cast the

spear, for he said, 'I will pin David to the wall!' But David

escaped his presence twice.” NKJV 1Samuel 18: 11. You can

read the whole story of David and find out for yourself how

courageous and perseverent he was. At the end, he got what he

prayed for daily.

Ever heard of Joseph, the son of Jacob? Yes, that man had

perseverance. He dreamed of greatness, desired greatness and

finally got it. Was he like some of us, he would have given up

his desire, dreams and expectations of being great when he was

cast into a pit, when he became a slave in Egypt, and when he

was put in prison. Read the whole story and understand it. All

the bad luck, misfortunes, troubles and problem we come

across in our lives can work to our own advantage if we know

how to make the best of every situation we find ourselves in

and find the good in all events of our lives.

Most of those you may call misfortunes may not be really

misfortunes at all. You know what, life if full of illusions and

surprises. Most of the things we call bad luck, misfortunes,

trouble and problems are really blessings in disguise. Give

yourself some five minutes or more to think about some

blessings in disguise you encountered in your life. You have got

a lot. If only you could be able to say to yourself: “This is a

blessing in disguise,” whenever something bad happens to

yourself and think about and expect that blessing, you will

never give up.

Had he not been cast into the pit, he wouldn't have been sold to

the Midianite traders. Had he not been enslaved in Egypt, he

wouldn't have been put in prison. Had he not been imprisoned,

he wouldn't have interpreted the butler's and the baker's dreams.

Had he not interpreted the butler's dream he wouldn't have been

given the chance to interpret Pharaoh's dream, too. Had he not

interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he would not have risen to power

in Egypt. Thus all the misfortunes and troubles that faced

Joseph were not only blessings in disguise, but stepping stones

to his greatness. He persevered and became great. Hitherto, we

read about his greatness.

Hannah, the wife of Elkanah strongly desired to have a son. She

prayed hard for a son. She persevered and eventually got

blessed with a son, Samuel, whom she dedicated to God.

Peninnah always provoked Hannah. “And her rival also

provoked her severely; to make her miserable, because the

LORD had closed her womb.” NKJV 1 Samuel 1: 6.

How many people provoke you, to make you miserable,

because of the colour of your skin? How many people provoke

you, to make you miserable, because of your disability? How

many people provoke you, to make you miserable, because of

your height? How many people provoke you, to make you

miserable, because of your body weight? How many people

provoke you, to make you miserable, because of your illness?

All those people who provoke you are the Peninnahs of today

and you are Hannah. All these Peninnahs are trying to

discourage you so that you can lose hope, give up and fail.

Never pay attention to them. Persevere and succeed.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah persevered and enjoyed

the fruits of their perseverance. Hananiah, Mishel and Azariah

were saved by God in a fiery trial. They were cast into a fiery

furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated and

they came out alive. Daniel came out of a den of lions alive.

God saved Daniel from the lions. All these people persisted and

persevered in their prayers. They were never dismayed. They

never gave up.

Had Jesus Christ given up, would we be talking about him

today, or would there be any New Testament in the Holy Bible?

No. Jesus Christ persisted and persevered. He never gave up.

Thus where others say: “Life is a wound, it heals on the day

you die,” we should say: “Never die until all your bones are

rotten.” Always rise each time you fall.

Jesus Christ knew a lot about the importance of perseverance.

He said: “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to

him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence

he will rise and give him as many as he needs.” NKJV Luke

11:8. You see, we are told to ask, ask and keep on asking.

“'Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because

this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her

continual coming she weary me.' Then the Lord said: 'Hear

what the unjust said. And shall God not avenge His own

elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears

long with them?'” NKJV Luke 18: 4-7.

Never be dismayed. Never give up. Persevere in asking,

seeking and knocking. He promised us that we will receive,

find and have the doors opened to us.

One thing you must know is we are all part of the universe. God

brings every person, animal, microorganism, plant and event

together so that they can all help you to attain your goal. This

may take seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, moths or even

years.

Lets say you strongly desire to buy and live in a new house in

Sandbanks (UK). You start thinking about it today, and thus you

have today created your desire for that house. The house may

not have been built yet, but you have already built it in your

mind. You know how many rooms it has. You know how big each

room is, and may be you roughly know how much it's going to

cost you to buy it.

You kneel down and start asking God for this new house, your

dream house. God is going to make Mr. Smith living in South

Africa decide to sell his plot in Sandbanks. God will also make

Mr. Thomson, a UK property developer, go to South Africa on

holiday and meet Mr Smith for the first time. They both haven't

met before, nor have they communicated before. Only God

Knows how and why. They coincidentally meet and

coincidentally discuss about the plot and coincidentally, Mr.

Thomson buys the plot.

After his holiday, Mr. Thomson goes back to UK. On the plane

back to UK, he coincidentally meets Mr. Knows, an architect

who has designed more than seventy percent of the houses in

Sandbanks. They discus about this new project that has just

come up and they agree. A year later, your dream home is build,

but you do not know that yet.

On your way to the local pub, a piece of newspaper being

blown away by the wind catches your eye. You run after it,

catch it and start reading it. You see, it has been torn off from

today's paper. You continue reading and find this advert for a

new house in Sandbanks, your dream house, but you can't

afford it.

At the pub, you meet Rex, the talkative lad from next door. He is

trying to quickly finish his bear and run to play lotto for

tonight's draw before the local supermarket closes. You give

him a quid and tell him to play luckydip for you. He does and

gives you the ticket. You go back home drank, sleep and forget

about the lotto and the dream house. You wake up tomorrow,

check the lotto results and find out that you have won the

jackpot. You buy your dream home.

Look at all this long chain of events some of which some

people may call coincidences. You created them the very day

you created a strong desire for this house. You made them

happen by strongly desiring this dream house, praying to God

for it, thinking about positive benefits of owning such a house,

having unwavering faith, practicing creative visualization, and

persevering.

Do the events make you give up? You can't get it today because

it hasn't been built yet. You can't get it next month because you

do not know there is such a house on sale in that area, moreover

you do not have the money to buy it. You will get it after all

these coincidental events happen. When the most convenient

time arrives, God gives you.

Some people give up. By giving up, you block one or more of

these coincidences, some people call them little miracles, from

happening, thus fail to achieve your goal. During all that time

you are asking God for whatever you desire, God is busy

arranging events, bringing all necessary people and tools

together, and looking for enough money for you. He does

everything for you. So, why are you dismayed? Work hard,

continue working hard. Keep on digging, you will get the

diamonds.

What makes people give up? What make people lose faith?

What makes people look back? What makes people lose

patience?

Of all demons that make people give up, make people lose

faith, make people look back and make people lose patience,

fear is the greatest and strongest. You may be afraid of taking

risks, afraid of losing, afraid of death, afraid of working hard,

afraid of cold weather. There are so many things that people are

afraid of. These fears draw you back.

All fear starts in the mind. You can't be afraid of cold weather

before you think of it. To wash fear off yourself, you must

control your mind. Think more of success than failure. Rub off

the word failure from your mental dictionary. Find friends,

books and movies that build your courage, not those that make

you more chicken hearted. Motivate yourself. Don't be afraid of

failure.

Misfortunes, bad luck, troubles and problems also discourage

people. All you have to know is that these are blessings in

disguise and they are stepping stones towards the achievement

of your goal. Any time you encounter one or more of them, you

should realize that God is doing his work. God is arranging all

the events, pooling all people and tools together so that you can

achieve your goal. Through all these, God is telling you: “You

are now on the bus to achievement. Your journey is safe.” Don't

get off it before receiving.

Some people are not patient enough. They pray for twin sons

today and want them to be born today. Why and how? There is

time to find the right partner, time for pregnancy and so on.

Yes, there are some things you may pray for today and get

today. When you do not get what you are asking for at the time

you expected it, do not lose patience, persevere. If you give up,

who knows, you may give up today when God was ready to

make you receive tomorrow. So, never look back. Never give

up.