Amelia Earhart, the female American aviator once remarked: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” Ephesians 1:11 reminds us: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
Tenacity is defined as the quality or fact of being very determined. Its assay is the critical analysis of the inherent outcome. It can include the valued personal traits of persistence, pertinacity, perseverance and doggedness. It may involve overcoming an element of fear. The core value of its existence encompasses the disregardance of prejudice, favoritism and biased opinions that do not hold firm structure, but ascertain an unerring truth.
In the Bible, the story of Jacob primarily reveals a story of a thief, and a liar who is eventually forgiven by God and chosen to lead a nation. His struggles to achieve that concession reveal great tenacity and a determination to overcome sinful ways. The narrative highlights the difficulties encountered from the tensions imposed and the wrestling that endures to achieve that procurement. The ultimate blessing given by God for his endeavors include a renaming, to cleanse him of immoral acts, and the provision of a new identity. James 4:1-12 reminds us: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder.
You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”
Jacob seeks a blessing from God and asks for advice through prayer after wrestling with a mysterious divine stranger for much of a night. He loses the encounter after the stranger dislocates his hip leaving him helpless. Genesis 35:1-15 reminds us: God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.
Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.
And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth. God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.
And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.”
This pertinent story embellishes the fact that no human is perfect. It highlights that even in sin, or wrong doings, God holds the measure to forgive and use the perpetrator for various chosen purposes.
The challenges of life come in many forms. They are the considered obstacles or situations that often present themselves in untimely fashion. They often require fortitude or tenacity to overcome. For some, they may equate to the sudden presence of a tiger which appears from nowhere and suddenly threatens the existence of life in its immediate vicinity, or prevents any forward progression within it.
Tigers are symbols of raw power, independence, focused energy and tenacity. Their appearance often create fear in humans. They look formidable and are renowned predators of man. They have terrific threatening roars, which in itself, may paralyze. Bioacousticians believe that the low frequency of a tiger's roar may be the key to its paralyzing effect. If that fails to produce the required effect by itself, then their renowned physical stature, or demeanor often substitutes and prospers in any dubious feelings of doubt that one may possess.
A paper tiger is said to represent a person of ineffectual or false character. It is someone who appears or claims to be threatening or powerful, but in reality is unable to withstand challenge. Beau Johnston, an Australian author once remarked: “Paper tigers quake with fear when a real tiger enters the room.” Proverbs 21:22-31 confirms: “A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor. All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent. A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure. A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways. No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.”
Amen.
