Life is going as fast as it has ever gone. We are all as busy as we can be. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know in my life, sometimes it feels like I am not making much ground.

I am trying my best to keep the ball rolling, but every time I turn around, something is there to knock me down. I want to encourage someone today that most games are not won by one play, but by the persistence of a team for the entire game.

Walter Payton ran for nine miles in his career. When they figured up his stats, they realized that he was knocked down every four yards. How would you like to run four yards and get knocked down?

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If that would have been the recruiting slogan, I doubt there would have been many takers. But the secret to his success was that he didn’t stay down. He got up and ran four more yards. It didn’t seem like much, but at the end of his career, he discovered he’d ran nine miles, four yards at a time.

Walter Payton went down in history as one of the greatest running backs in the NFL, not because he never got knocked down, but because when he did get knocked down, he didn’t stay there. He got up and ran four more yards.

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In spite of the pain, in spite of the discouragement, he was determined not to stay down. I am convinced that he wanted to stay down a few times but he was determined to get back up.

As people in general, it is our job to keep everything rolling in our life and sometimes we don’t like the speed it is happening. But, if we will be consistent in our duties, God will move on our behalf. More often than not, we move into our destiny a few yards at a time.

No one is broadcasting our exploits. We’re laboring in anonymity, just grinding away. It’s boring, it’s uneventful, it’s not flashy, but it’s the way to victory!

If you study the life of David, you’ll find that before he entered the stage of the Valley of Elah, with the eyes of thousands of spectators focused intently on his performance, that he won two battles when no one was watching.

David’s first victory didn’t happen in front of thousands, his first victories came in private.

• He killed a lion

• He killed a bear

A man’s or women’s character is not proven in the middle of a crowd, but it is proven when they are alone and still willing to get back up when nobody is watching. You can only correct what you are willing to confront. The only way to confront the issue is by getting back up again.

I started living by a saying a few years ago: “If the size of your vision is not intimidating to you, it is probably insulting God.” No matter how big your dream is, it is still going to take you to keep pushing forward to accomplish the dream God has given you.

Our faith is not built on feelings or our performance or ability. Our faith needs to be built on the faithfulness of God.

“If we believe not, [yet] he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

Even when I am not faithful or not up to par, God is always faithful because he cannot deny himself. Keep pushing forward even if it is only a few yards at a time. It’s not about how many times you fall; it’s about how many times you get back up.

Tony Bohrer is the pastor at Lighthouse of Craig.