One Last Night on a Bathroom Floor

In The Pursuit of Happyness, there is a scene that should break you. Chris Gardner — played by Will Smith — has lost his apartment, his wife has left, and he is dragging his five-year-old son through the streets of San Francisco with nothing but a suitcase and a dream of becoming a stockbroker. They end up spending the night on the floor of a train station bathroom. Chris braces his foot against the door to keep anyone from coming in. His boy falls asleep against his chest. And Chris weeps — silently, so he will not wake his son.

But he does not quit. The next morning, he puts on his one good suit, drops his son at daycare, and walks into that brokerage firm like a man who belongs there. He does this day after day for months — homeless, hungry, but unwilling to surrender the future he believes is coming.

When he is finally offered the position, tears stream down his face. Not tears of surprise — tears of a man who held on long enough to see the promise fulfilled.

James 1:4 tells us, "Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." Patience is not passive waiting. It is Chris Gardner pressing his foot against that bathroom door, holding the line through the darkest night, trusting that morning will come.

Whatever floor you are sitting on today, hold on. The Almighty is not finished with your story.