Keep on Keeping On

Not long ago, I went to Holmes Educational State Forest in North Carolina to do some early spring wildflower photography. Holmes is a location I’d been to on a number of occasions over the course of several years. The snow white blooms of bloodroot, the intricately detailed petals of spring beauties, and the colorfully-veined bracts of jacks-in-the-pulpit were among the species I’d enjoyed seeing on previous visits. But on that chilly, late-March morning, I didn’t see any of the opportunities I was seeking.

Matthew 15:21-28 tells of a journey Jesus took to the Mediterranean coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon. While he was there, a Canaanite woman sought Jesus out on behalf of her daughter who was ill and in great distress. When she asked Jesus to help her daughter, this woman did not get what she was seeking. In fact, she got nothing from Jesus except silence.

Many years ago, I knew a man named John West. Previously he’d been Head Track Coach at the University of South Carolina and later would be Associate Pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, for 15 years. But when I knew John, he worked with the College Ministry in the church I was attending and was a gifted and sought-after speaker. John’s trademark was to close his written communications with the phrase “Keep on Keeping On.” As a runner, a track coach, and a person of faith, he knew the importance of perseverance.

Of course, this woman in the Matthew 15 story did not know John West. But I’m pretty sure if I had looked up the word “perseverance” in an early first-century dictionary, I would have found her picture there. Because this unnamed supplicant showed no evidence of discouragement when Jesus had no response to her first plea for mercy. The woman came and knelt before him, addressed Jesus as “Lord,” and repeated her request. This time Jesus replied it wasn’t appropriate to take bread off the children’s plates to give it to the dogs. This woman concurred, but then countered that dogs at least got the crumbs which fell from their master’s table. Impressed with her persistent faith, Jesus granted her request and healed her daughter remotely.

Back to that early spring morning. Rather than give up, I decided to drive south to another location and there I found a number of opportunities:

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Please be aware that persevering in either photography or in life does not mean things will always turn out the way I would like them to. In Matthew 7:7-8, when Jesus spoke about continuing to ask, seek, and knock, I think Jesus was telling me to be persistent in my praying. So as I develop a closer relationship with God, it will become easier for me to discern where God wants me to go and what God wants me to do. And as I get better at knowing and doing God’s will, it should be easier to “Keep on Keeping On.”