When Refusal Becomes Fuel: The Beauty in Being Stubborn for What Matters
When Refusal Becomes Fuel: The Beauty in Being Stubborn for What Matters
By Angel, Founder of AMC Rise and Thrive
Hello Beautiful Soul ✨
I’m so grateful you’re here with me today. I hope as you read
this, you feel seen, understood, and gently encouraged in whatever season you
currently stand in. Because whether we realize it or not, we all walk through
moments that test our patience, our resilience, our faith, and the part of us
that refuses to quit.
We all know that quiet stretch of life — the one where
progress feels slow, solutions feel hidden, and the path forward seems to
demand more of us than we think we have left to give. Yet somehow, despite the
frustration… we keep trying. Something inside us whispers:
Not yet.
Not like this.
Try one more time.
And sometimes that whisper — that stubborn refusal to give up
— is the very spark that leads us into unexpected joy.
Tonight, I want to tell you a story about something small,
almost insignificant — a moment with wires and buttons and a tiny arcade
machine. But sometimes the smallest things end up teaching us the biggest
lessons. Sometimes God uses the simple to reveal the profound.
So, settle in with me. Take a deep breath. Let your heart
open, just a little. And let this story speak wherever you need strength,
patience, or faith today.
A Heart-Centered Beginning
There is nothing quite like finishing a task — especially one
you weren’t sure you could complete — and finally watching it come to life
beneath your hands. That moment when the impossible becomes possible, when
frustration dissolves into triumph, when your persistence finally gives way to
reward… it is a feeling that sits deep in the soul.
Recently, my cousin gifted my son a homemade mini arcade
system — a small box filled with nostalgia and promise. When we plugged it in,
it worked… but only barely. One game. Donkey Kong. Sweet, nostalgic — but
certainly not the full potential of what it could be.
After a quick conversation with my cousin, we discovered
something exciting:
It wasn’t just one game —
It held sixty.
Sixty games waiting to be unlocked.
Sixty memories yet to be played.
Sixty possibilities hidden beneath the surface.
But we couldn’t reach them.
The buttons needed to navigate the menu weren’t there.
The wires that should have connected them were cut.
And right here — in this moment — is where many people stop.
Just one more thing wrong.
Just one more hurdle.
Just one more reason to say, maybe it’s not meant to be.
But something in me said, No. We are not done here.
So, I reached out to a friend — the tech-savvy one we all seem
to know. We researched, tinkered, opened tabs, compared diagrams, and then
finally ordered new parts.
The parts arrived incomplete.
Some didn’t work at all.
Buttons wouldn’t respond.
The motherboard wouldn’t boot.
Every time I thought I was one step closer, something else
failed.
I ordered replacements.
Then replacements for the replacements.
Tested wires. Watched tutorials. Held hope with tired hands.
At some point, it stopped being about an arcade and started
being about who I was. The stubbornness was digging in deep. That oh no this
can’t beat me mentality.
Not the part where everything works smoothly —
but the part where I refuse to walk away.
When I finally ordered a new motherboard, I paused. I waited
for energy to return. Because sometimes persistence doesn’t look like constant
effort — sometimes it looks like rest so we can rise again.
And when I plugged it in…
It worked.
Lights. Sound. Menu. Buttons.
All sixty games shining back at me like victory.
My son’s laughter filled the room.
My husband’s face lit up like a child again.
And joy — pure, earned joy — flowed through our home.
It took $80. Two weeks. Multiple setbacks.
But I wouldn’t trade it.
Not for the ease, not for the shortcut, not for a version
without the struggle.
Because the joy after perseverance tastes different.
It feels like I did this.
It feels like God strengthened me for this.
It feels like growth wearing the clothes of frustration.
The Purpose in Persistence
We often romanticize breakthrough more than the journey that
leads there. But one truth I keep learning is this:
Breakthrough is built, not gifted.
So many of the victories that shape us require the willingness
to keep trying — not because it’s easy, but because something inside us knows
it matters.
Every setback is a building block.
Every retry is groundwork.
Every moment of stubborn refusal becomes a stepping stone to growth.
Persistence is a spiritual muscle — one strengthened by use.
God designed us with incredible capacity for resilience. Not
just to survive difficulty, but to rise through it. To learn from it. To expand
because of it. Perseverance isn’t merely endurance — it is character in motion.
And if you’ve ever stood in front of a task that should
be simple but insists on resisting you, you know the internal battle that
follows. Logic says quit. Frustration says walk away. But something deeper —
spirit, intuition, divine fire — whispers louder:
Try again.
And every time you listen, something inside you strengthens.
Lessons Hidden in Trial
As strange as it sounds, that little arcade offered big wisdom
— reminders I needed, and maybe you do too:
• Failure doesn’t mean wrong — it means not finished.
• The road to victory is rarely smooth, but always meaningful.
• Every setback is a teacher dressed like frustration.
• The unfamiliar is not a wall — it’s a doorway.
Just like the time I climbed into a kayak for the first time
to retrieve something my son dropped in the lake. People doubted me. Told me I
couldn’t. Warned me of the water.
But stubbornness — holy, determined stubbornness — rose in my
chest.
I watched one video.
Strapped on a life jacket.
Took a breath and paddled like I had done it my whole life.
Because sometimes courage is simply a choice — the refusal to
accept limitation as truth.
And that’s the heart of it:
Stubbornness, when aligned with purpose, becomes strength.
It becomes bravery.
It becomes resilience.
It becomes the fire that carries you from almost to accomplished.
The Spirit Behind the Fight
Let’s soften deeper.
Why do we push?
Why do we try again?
Why does something inside us refuse to quit?
Because God placed a spark in us — not of perfection, but of
resilience.
We are designed to overcome.
We are built to stretch, learn, adapt, rise.
We are created with the capacity to grow through the very things that challenge
us most.
That’s why some projects won’t leave your mind.
Why some dreams keep returning.
Why giving up feels more painful than continuing.
Not every fight is worth fighting — discernment matters.
But when something aligns with purpose, love, joy, or calling, your refusal
becomes holy ground.
Maybe this is your reminder:
If it still calls to you, it’s not over.
Affirmations for the Determined Heart
Speak them gently. Speak them boldly.
• I am capable of learning, trying, and overcoming.
• I will not give up on what matters to me.
• Hard things do not break me — they refine me.
• I finish what I start with strength and grace.
• Victory belongs to my persistence.
Bible Verse
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
— Galatians 6:9
May this verse sit with you like sunrise — soft, steady,
promising that what you are working toward holds harvest in its timing.
🎵 Song of
the Day
“Eye of the Tiger” — Survivor
There’s something timeless about this song — its bold rhythm,
steady build, and raw spirit of perseverance. It’s the anthem of the underdog,
the fighter, the one who chooses to rise again. It reminds us that grit is
glorious, and pushing forward is powerful.
If you’re facing something right now — listen to it.
Let it awaken courage.
Let it call forth your strength.
Let it remind you: You can win this.
Closing thoughts
Sometimes life feels like tangled wires, missing parts, or
buttons that simply won't respond. Sometimes the progress you hoped for stalls,
delays, or breaks before it blooms. And in those moments, you have a choice:
Quit — or continue.
Many stop at the first setback. Some stop at the second, or
fifth, or tenth. But a rare few — the ones who grow, the ones who rise, the
ones who break through — are those who keep going even when tired,
frustrated, or unsure.
You are one of those souls.
You are the kind who returns to the work.
Who picks up the pieces again.
Who believes a solution exists even when unseen.
And if no one has told you recently — that is beautiful. That
is strength. That is spiritual courage in action.
So whatever stands in front of you today — a goal, a dream, a
calling, a healing journey, a project that keeps falling apart — may this
message meet you with fire in your chest and softness in your spirit.
You don’t have to finish fast — you just have to
refuse to quit.
Thank you for walking this moment with me. You are powerful.
You are capable. And you are not done yet.
With love,
Angel | AMC Rise and Thrive
If this message has resonated, be sure to share — or visit the
blog archive for whatever wisdom may be waiting for you next. 🕊️
There may be blessings waiting just beyond your next step forward.
#PersistenceWithPurpose #DoNotGiveUp
#StubbornnessAsStrength #FaithAndDetermination #AMCRiseAndThrive
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