Again I ask: How can Australian’s ‘go well beyond blue?’ In other words, how can we decisively win the battlefield of our minds daily, and even see unprecedented break throughs in areas of mental health?
Having a perseverance mindset leads to releasing our fuller potential.
Every day our kids spend the majority of their time learning. They are learning to one day become citizens who contribute and realise their greatest potential. And for many young people, especially in western nations, despite having strong resources, educators and much state of the art technology, concerning trends continue to arise.
We are confronted with weak literacy and numeracy results and educators and politicians alike are asking what can be done? While effective parenting is probably the greatest issue behind declining standards, we must also place the full weight of responsibility on the students themselves and their attitude towards their daily education.
In Matthew Chapter 25 of the bible we see in the parable of the talents that talents were given to be stewarded and could be developed with perseverance. The man with five talents multiplied his talents to have ten talents because he had a ‘perseverance-mindset.’ Another had a ‘closed-mindset’ and hid his one talent and regressed completely.
Friends, how are we approaching life and educating our kids? Are we quick to give up on challenges or embrace them as an opportunity to grow by persevering? When facing obstacles, are we quick to give up or are we saying what am I missing? Am I saying I can’t do this and put it aside, or am I saying I haven’t worked it out yet, but I know I’ll get there if I persevere. Am I saying as I face difficulties, this is a waste of time, or am I seeing it as opportunity to develop a high level of skill by persevering?
When we face criticism are we quick to ignore feedback, or do we see critique and criticism as a free gift to help us solve our challenges by improving our outlook, by perseverance? Do we look at others success and feel like hiding away, or do we sit down and ponder what can I learn from their approach and adopt a persevering-mindset?
Friends, we can either exercise a persevering, growth-oriented mindset or be a ‘stick in the mud’ and adopt a closed-mindset. Both are a choice. Which mindset will help us to go beyond the blues and avoid a depressive, moody and pity party tendency, we can all fall into? If only we could always wear a perseverance-mindset bit like wearing socks!
What does the bible say about a ‘perseverance-mindset’ verses a ‘closed-mindset?’
The writer James in the New Testament encouraged people to persevere in their trials and even count them a great joy, as it allows people to mature in stature and wisdom according to the highest life benchmark; living like the man Christ Jesus; perfect man and God!
The writer to the Roman believers tells us to see sufferings as an opportunity grow in perseverance, to develop character of Christ, which will not disappoint, as it is authentic. Authentic Christianity has come under fire heavily, especially in recent times with the child abuse scandal; how can we return to the persevering mindset?
Jesus in the gospels said to persist in hearing what he said so that people persevere unto the application of his words, and then believers would see a harvest, and of multiplication. A quick fix, ‘want to see it now’ mindset robs people of harvest and equates to building on sand and is fallible.
Joseph in the bible persevered and kept believing, despite being rejected by family, sold as a slave, and became a refugee, but he eventually became what God intended; the governor of the most powerful empire in that time! Like Joseph, we read of hundreds of bible characters that often faced incredible adversity, but instead of collapsing; they developed a perseverance-mindset unto the fulfilment of His plan.
However, it must be noted that God’s grace and divine empowering was working together with human perseverance and will as a fuel rod for perseverance, giving the ability to await for God’s appointed time and season for things to arise.
Why does a perseverance mindset lead to going well beyond blue?
We are seeing a generation of young people arise who struggle to find hope amidst the pressures of life and study, weakening grades are a symptom, but for those who develop a perseverance-mindset there is a high tendency to realise their fuller potential and have hope. We need to grasp that God’s word can help develop this perseverance-mindset, which leads to a powerful impact on our emotional health.
Think of people who persevered like a Thomas Edison to invent the light globe? Imagine their joy when they finally saw an actual globe shining and removing darkness! Imagine the joy of seeing how this discovery changed society?
And imagine how anyone feels when their life throbs with joy and purpose; learning is organic? Imagine those that are true to God’s design for their lives and persevere to multiply their talents for the good of many?
And yet there is a joy from perseverance that goes deeper giving divine consolation, in Matthew Chapter 25: “Well done good and faithful servant.” Were these words solely to be spoken at Christ’s return or could it be Jesus helping us persevere today: “For what we are is God’s gift to us. But, isn’t what we make of ourselves by perseverance, our gift to God?”
Mark Rusic was born in Melbourne and has a bachelor in Mechanical engineering. He became a missionary to many suffering hardship and poverty on Madura Island in Indonesia, for about 4 years in the early 1990’s. He has worked as a pastor-life coach over the past 17 years. Mark is also an artist and author and has also written two books which are a collection of his own paintings, photography and poetry. These include ‘Iconic Melbourne of Australia’ and ‘Iconic Animals of Australia with a voice to release your giant potential within.’ He has been counted among some of Australia’s best-selling authors since 2014 and is a frequent public speaker in various community groups and churches, with a special grace for discipleship and to help people find and release what they are born for. If this article encouraged you do email Mark with your comments on markrusic@gmail.com.