John K. Jenkins Sr - The Power to Endure

I want to talk to you today from Hebrews 12. Let me tell you right now, you’re not going to be excited about this message, but tell your neighbor that you’re going to need this word for next year. Hebrews chapter 12, and I want to read these first two verses, even though I’m going to be preaching through verse 11. Verses 1 and 2 say, «Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.» Can I read verse 3 while I’m here? «For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.» I want to talk about the power to endure. Say that. Look at your neighbor and say, «You need power to endure.» You need power to endure. Tell the person on the other side, «Power to endure.» All right, you can be seated. This 12:00 service is where it’s at!

On September 2nd, 2013, something happened that had never happened before. A person did something that no other human being had ever done. After all of these thousands of years, it was done for the first time. Many others had tried but had not actually completed it. It had been attempted even by the person who did it on four previous occasions. As a matter of fact, the first time the person attempted it was 35 years ago; they didn’t complete it. But finally, on September 2nd, Diana Nyad, 64 years of age-look at your neighbor and say «64"-did something that took her 53 hours to accomplish. You' re supposed to say, «What did she do, Pastor?» I know you want to know. She swam from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida. From Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida, she never got out of the water-110 miles, 53 hours. She swam longer than you work! I can’t run up the street and back without just wanting to quit, and she was 64 years of age when she did it! Say Amen, y’all! Somebody needs to say it!

Now here’s what made it unique that she did it: she did it without the protection of a shark cage. She swam in shark-infested waters without a shark cage. Look at your neighbor and say, «We ain’t doing that!» The first time she tried, 35 years earlier, she encountered winds that were so strong that they pushed the water to hold her back. She swam for a long time and went virtually nowhere, so they called it off. 35 years earlier, the next time she tried, she had an asthma attack and had to stop. The third time she tried it, she had jellyfish bites all over, which caused her to swell, and she had respiratory distress. The fourth time she tried it, she encountered storms that were too dangerous for her to continue. But on the fifth time she tried, she started on August 31st and took until September 2nd to finish. She started on August 31st. This time, she did several things she hadn’t done before. First of all, she checked the weather to see what it was going to be. She got a forecast; as a matter of fact, she discovered that the winds were going to be in her favor. She would be swimming with the winds instead of against them. She also wore a special bodysuit swimsuit along with a mask to protect her body from jellyfish bites. Her body had an allergic reaction on one of her previous occasions, so she didn’t want that to stop her. After 53 hours from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, she completed the task and did something that no other human being had done without a shark cage. I can’t get over the fact that she’s 64 years of age.

Now here’s why I want to talk to you about her: it took her 35 years to complete something that she had dreamed of doing 35 years earlier. I want to talk to you about it because what she teaches us — something that is very difficult for people to understand-is that when you’re going to accomplish something in life, it doesn’t happen instantly; it’s a journey. Let me thank all 17 of y’all for that rousing Amen and support. It’s a journey! Life is a journey, and accomplishing difficult things takes time. Her journey, her task, her assignment, her vision, her dream was to reach and swim from one place to another. Here's what she had to do: listen, she didn’t just go out there one day and say, «I’m going to swim over there to Florida.» She had to do some training. So she started by moving from where she lived to a place where she could train in waters similar to what she would be swimming in. Then she didn’t just jump into 53 hours all at once; she started off doing two hours, got that done, then four hours, then eight hours.