Instructions: Read Hebrews 12:1-2 and focus on Charlotte Gambill's emphasis on
perseverance.
Define perseverance in the context of leadership.
Whenever people mention perseverance, they talk about never giving up. When
Charlotte Gambill defined perseverance in the video, it was almost the opposite of how
the world describes it. In the world’s eyes, to persevere is to push through whatever trial
and tribulation you are facing. But where are we supposed to get that strength as
humans? When push comes to shove, will we constantly be able to draw from the
flesh? What does it actually mean to persevere—to preserve ourselves in whatever
situation we may be going through, to stay steady, as Charlotte Gambill said throughout
the intro of the video? As we read through Hebrews, we see the author say, “And let us
run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer
and perfecter of faith.” When we run with perseverance, we run with Jesus. We run at
His pace. We run the race with our eyes on Jesus, modeling Jesus and offering
everything we do to Him as a gift.
Analyze how perseverance enables leaders to remain steady and resilient despite
obstacles.
In the journey of leadership, as well as life, we are going to be constantly faced with
trials and tribulations. God is not sitting in heaven saying that life is going to be easy. It’s
not. We live in a broken world with the prince of darkness still reigning in the fleshly
realms that we see. So when we go through life and go through hardships, how do we
stay steady? Why is it important to persevere? We need to remain in Him. As Jesus
says, He is the vine and we are the branches. When we have our eyes fixated on Him in
our hardships, that’s where we find the strength to keep going. In the midst of our
hardships, when we persevere, we learn through the obstacle—and to be honest, we
begin to be able to lead. Being able to lead through hardship is where push comes to
shove. When it’s hard, can you rely on God? Rely on the team He puts around you?
Rely on the wisdom God can give you in the midst?
Provide an example from a personal experience illustrating how perseverance
shaped your success.
It’s not about my personal success, but about being able to persevere through
something God wanted me to do. One example is when we had a tough situation during
one of our outreach events for youth. Our inflatable company pulled up, and I was all set
for the night—until they didn’t bring any generators for our event. I had to run to Home
Depot to get generators, but everything began to pile up. They wouldn’t let me rent for
just two hours, so I had to call someone else to rent it. In that moment, I was like, “God,
you have to help me because I can’t keep going.” I wanted to give up—give up on the
youth night and just go home. But God provided. He provided the people, the resources,
and we were able to put on an amazing youth outreach night.
