What can we achieve when we persevere? When life becomes difficult, is there a time to say, “I give up!” Or do we need to dig even deeper, focus on God’s magnificent coming Kingdom and push through?

When I was a little boy, one of my favorite stories was The Little Engine That Could. It was about Little Blue Engine – a small railroad train engine. A load of toys needed to be delivered to good boys and girls, but Shiny New Engine and Big Strong Engine declined to pull the load of train cars over a seemingly impassable mountain – saying “I cannot, I cannot.” Not wanting to disappoint all of those little boys and girls, Little Blue Train decided to do what others would not, saying “I think I can, I think I can.”

Outer space

I am reminded of this story because the Voyager 1 space craft is once again in the news.  Voyager 1 was launched September 5, 1977 as one in a series of deep space probes sent to study the outer solar system, interstellar space and to send back data. In the past few months Voyager 1 has become the first man-made object to leave our solar system – scientists are not sure exactly when Voyager 1 did this because of the distance it is from earth.

As of November 2012, Voyager 1 was estimated to be 123 Astrological Units from earth (the distance from the Sun to the Earth) – this is a distance of about 18,400,000,000,000 kilometers. At that distance, the radio signals with data that Voyager 1 send back takes 17 hours to reach Earth.

Voyager 1 was planned to have an operating life until 2025 or so. Before that it will likely be so distant from Earth that its backup data recorder will not be able to send information back to Earth, it will lose it gyroscopic operations (no longer able to orient itself) and will shut down its scientific instruments (Kenneth Chang, “Going, Going Still Going? Voyager 1 at Solar System’s Edge,” NYTimes.com, June 27, 2013). The Voyager 1 story captured my imagination of what can be possible for followers of Jesus Christ who have a vision of persevering.

Inner space

How about you and me? Are we like the Little Blue Engine and Voyager 1 moving forward, not listening to the critics and carrying out the task we have been given?

As daunting as our calling can seem to be at times, we have help. Whatever trial, circumstance or situation God allows in our life, Christ is there to strengthen us (Philippians 4:13). When we commit to Him through baptism, God gives us the precious gift of forgiveness, the promise of being part of His family and the gift of His Holy Spirit. Do not neglect the importance of this gift (1 Timothy 4:14) because with it we can preserve in obeying God’s commandments in a world that rejects His very existence.

Like Voyager 1 we don’t know what awaits us on our journey, but unlike Voyager 1 we do know what will be at the end of our journey. If we are diligent to seek first God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:33), then at the end of our run we can assured of hearing from the Father, “Well done,” (Matthew 25:21).