Inventor Thomas Edison was once hard at work, testing, planning and figuring when his friend came for a visit. Edison was trying to create a new type of battery. His friend asked him about it and learned that Edison had conducted more than 9,000 experiments and still the battery did not work!

With pity, his friend said, “Isn’t it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven’t been able to get any results?” Edison turned and with a smile replied: “Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won’t work.”

Can you imagine? At some point Edison must have gotten discouraged, but he never failed. You can only fail if you completely give up. This secret for never failing is in the Bible, too.

In Hebrews 12:1-2, the apostle Paul wrote: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Have you ever run a race? Runners who compete in the Olympic games train very hard, and it’s not always fun. But to win the gold medal, they have to persevere — to push forward even when things are tough, just like Edison did with his inventions.

Jesus sometimes calls us to do hard things. He does this because he knows the truth about you and me — that we are designed to persevere.

So whenever you feel like quitting, like things are too hard, or you get discouraged when things seem like they won’t work, remember who created you. Remember God has a purpose for your life, and he’s given you a spirit that is strong enough to overcome any challenge.