And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. – Galatians 6:9, KJV

As mentioned in Lessons from the Honey Badger: Part 1, honey badgers have a reputation for being fearless. They also are remarkably, insanely, and stubbornly persistent.

Take Stauffel, for instance. Stauffel is a captive honey badger, rescued by South African preservationist Brian Jones some years ago. Stauffel is one of many residents at Brian’s nature preserve, and among Stauffel’s neighbors is a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and two lions.

One day Stauffel invaded the lion’s den, attacking the lions – and winning! When Stauffel returned for a rematch, however, he did not fare so well. He almost died, but after two and a half months of care, Brian was able to nurse Stauffel back to health. For his own good, however, Brian decided to cage Stauffel to prevent him from attacking any more of his neighbors.

Stauffel easily broke out of his cage, and he did so by opening the two levers on the cage door, just like a human would. After that, Brian built “Badger Alcatraz,” a den surrounded by a concrete wall several feet high. The first day in Alcatraz, however, Stauffel broke out! There were trees close to the outer wall, so he climbed a tree and used a branch as a bridge to leap over the wall. Brian then had all of the trees removed from the outer wall, assuring himself that he now had Stauffel trapped. Not so! Stauffel escaped many more times in various ways. Once, he piled rocks at the corner of the wall, and he scaled the rocks as a ladder. After Brian had all of the rocks removed, Stauffel built a ladder out of mud, having pushed mud balls to the corner of the wall until they had the same effect as the rocks. Once Stauffel propped a large stick against the wall and scaled it. Once he did the same with a shovel, and then a rake. Once he used a tire left in Alcatraz as his launching pad! Finally, at his wits end, Brian laced the top of the wall with an electric fence, which, so far, has kept Stauffel in his place.

Many times in our lives we just want to give up. Hurdles, disappointments, and battles wear us down, and often we long to be in our heavenly home NOW because we are sick and tired of our earthly one. Rest assured, our heavenly reward will come soon enough. But, for now, we have an assignment: do God’s business until He comes to get us. As we do God’s business, the obstacles of evil will stand in our way. But, rather than quit when they attack, we should be like the honey badger and attack back (in a godly way) – relentlessly, fearlessly, and stubbornly.

As Galatians 6:9 (AMP) states:

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.

Keep your head down. Keep your eyes ahead. Keep your hands on the plow and sow God’s seeds in your life and in the lives of those around you. Someday, you will reap what you sow. Until then, don’t give up!