“Frankly, my dear, I enjoyed every moment of it.” So replied Winston Churchill when a woman at the dinner table asked, “Now that it is all over, what was your worst moment in the war—the fall of France, the threat of invasion, the Blitz?” 

What did Churchill mean by “enjoyed”? Certainly not that he was glad the war had come or that he and his people had suffered so much. Rather, that he was glad to have served a small part in such a great cause as the fight and victory over evil. He had a sense and an assurance that he had “walked with Destiny”. 

Winston Churchill didn’t become Prime Minister of England until the age of 65. Yet he knew before then that he had been born for such a time as this. Though he couldn’t have predicted it entirely, all his previous decades of service were preparing him for the coming of the Second World War. He had insight and intuition into Hitler’s intentions long before they were revealed.

While many mocked or disbelieved him, Churchill held firm to the conviction that the enemy was real, the threat was growing, and that he would one day need to stand firm against it.  And stand firm he did, under immense scrutiny, criticism, hardship, testing, and pain. He carried the weight of conviction that England would not surrender and could be victorious.

It is one thing for us to have a picture, a vision, a dream of a better future—of what God has called us to accomplish. We may have a growing conviction that we are here for a purpose, that there’s a worthy cause we’re called to fight for. Even so, it’s another thing to see that vision through to completion. From a distance of sometimes years or decades, we can grow weary and discouraged from an apparent lack of progress or get lost in the whirlwind of what is pressing in on us daily. And a vision can be lost.   

A vision, though, is not only a destination. It is also a direction. 

To walk towards and along a vision will require steadfastness of heart.

What is steadfastness? To be steadfast is to bear up under something heavy. Picture someone carrying a heavy load for a long time. Steadfastness, then, is a capacity to endure. Some have the capacity to endure a short 200 meter burst, while others have the capacity to endure a marathon. The capacity must be according to the challenge we face. If you keep facing the same challenge over and over, your capacity to endure will likely not grow. But if you overcome one challenge, then your capacity will grow, equipping and empowering you to face challenges greater than the last.

Challenges, then, are necessary, if we want to grow our capacity. Facing trials is essential, working hard is critical, if we want to see God’s vision, his mission, his purpose for our life fulfilled. We cannot walk or run away from the testing we face, if we are to “walk with destiny”. We must walk forward, toward, upward. We will have the ability not to cover large distances over short periods of time, but short distances over a long periods of time. And by God’s grace each step will be a triumph.

What challenges will we face along the way? We cannot say exactly nor predict entirely. The fight we know will be long. The race hard. The enemy relentless. The obstacles intimidating. But Christ in us, Christ being formed in us, will produce in us the capacity to endure, a holy steadfastness. By his strength, through every trial, we will desire and work to carry the heavy load as long and as far as it takes. 

We are not those who give up, who shirk back, who have no hope in this world. We have a living hope in Jesus Christ! We have a future, a reason to endure and give thanks, rejoice, live, move, breathe, serve, give—to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength (Mark 12:30).

We are those who will embrace new challenges and new trials. We will enjoy every moment, for we have been called to serve a small part in a great cause: the gospel of Jesus Christ. It continues to spread, to reach, to influence, to impact, to transform, and to make all things new.

Forward, toward, upward we march. He who called us is faithful. A vision isn’t faithful to us. A mission isn’t faithful to us. A dream isn’t faithful to us. A destiny isn’t faithful to us. Jesus Christ is faithful to us. He will finish what he has begun.