About a decade ago I wrote a one minute message about a former University of Memphis football player named Ken Irvin. The original message was about how Ken blocked four punts in a game against Arkansas, a feat ignored by the local press…my point being that sometimes we don’t get the recognition we deserve.

Even though the guy being paid to write about the game that day overlooked Ken’s record-setting performance, there were others who took note. For one, an NFL scout working for the Buffalo Bills. He noticed Ken’s play, as did other key Buffalo personnel, and they began to follow his collegiate career. Irvin was eventually selected as the Bills’ fourth round pick in the 1995 draft. He went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL, retiring in 2005.

Ken’s story reminds us of the importance of right recognition. Getting overlooked by the local paper? Annoying, but no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Getting overlooked by representatives of the NFL? A big deal indeed for the man who wants to play professionally. Given the choice of who’s paying attention, most college players would prefer the NFL scout, hands down.

In your work, you need to seek the right recognition for your efforts. It’s not from those who can only offer praise and only inflate your pride. It’s from the One whom you’ve committed yourself to serve, to honor, to glorify. He’s the one whose attention you need, his is the only recognition that matters.

The good news is that he notices what you do, even when no one else does. The prophet Azariah counseled Asa, the king of Judah: “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” (2 Chronicles 15:7)

Paul echoed these words in his letter to the Galatians. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

God is paying attention. He sees what you accomplish even when no one else does. And he will see to it that a harvest comes your way. Rather than playing for those in the stands, rather than performing to impress the press, seek to gain God’s approval in all you do.

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In seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Troy Polamalu has won two Super Bowls and played in five Pro Bowls.

With his success, Troy strives to maintain Christian character. In an interview with CBN, he said, “Pride is tough. You go to high school, and it’s pride, courage. It’s all these types of words that we use to motivate us. I don’t think there’s anywhere in the Scriptures where pride was ever a positive characteristic of anybody. That kind of egotism is a really tough struggle—especially in this business. … It’s a big struggle of mine.”

Polamalu goes on to say that it’s not the obvious things that are the hardest to deal with in his life. “The big things are the easiest to turn away from. It’s the accumulation of small things that are hard. People know adultery’s bad and murder’s bad. I’m not going to go out and sleep with the first girl I see. But when your eyes start wandering, and you become a little more jealous and envious, and these passions start rising up inside of you — that’s when it really becomes dangerous. Because the Devil doesn’t work that way. His strategy is always to be very subtle and continue to build on top of that evil seed that he planted.”

What keeps him rooted? Prayer. Polamalu says, “As your prayer life becomes more and more fine tuned, and your conscience becomes more and more fine tuned, you’re able to start plucking away at these things.”

My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1-2)

Albert Einstein once said, “I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me my ideas.” He’s saying, basically, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

He may have understated his intelligence and talent, but he does so to make a point: For more than any other reason, he was successful because he was persistent.

I’m no Einstein, but I can also say that the success I have experienced can be attributed to this same principle. And I can say that my failures weren’t so much the result of a lack of talent or the lack of worthwhile goals; they were the result of quitting too soon.

Solomon said, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.” (Proverbs 24:16)

When I’m struggling with failure — spiritually, financially, or relationally — I have to remind myself several times a day that the difference between my being a wise man and a fool … the difference between my righteous and unrighteous … is determined by my willingness to get back up and try again.

Have you fallen down? Has it happened more than once? If you’re like me, maybe you sometimes want to throw in the towel. But remember this: if a dream is worth one good try, it’s worth a thousand.

Take another look at the goals God has given you. Then get up, and try again.

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Seth Godin says, “Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. That’s just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over.”

Not that it needs elaboration, but Seth is saying that persistence (and the success that persistence leads to) requires unwavering focus on the end result, not on the strategies we use for getting there.

Are you driven by goals or strategies?

When success is elusive, we’re sometimes tempted to dump the goal: “We just can’t reach young people; we just can’t build community in our congregation; we just can’t have an effective discipleship ministry.”

It’s usually not the goal that needs to be re-evaluated, it’s the methodology.

Once you’ve nailed down a goal, and you know that it’s worthwhile, don’t abandon it. Just change your approach when you need to. Goals, not strategies, require persistence.

“I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us up to heaven.” (Philippians 3:14)