Take Heart

When you go through the delays in life, don't get discouraged. Don't lose heart. Don't give up!

The Israelites did, and it kept them out of the promised land. Numbers 14: 2-4 says, "All the Israelites grumbled against Moses....If only we had died in Egypt!....We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." they gave up on their dream. They had been rescued after 400 years of slavery but then wanted to go back because they were being delayed. Like the Israelites, some of us would rather live in slavery than face the fear of freedom. We are not willing to push through and work on the problem until we get it right. We want to give up. We settle for mediocrity in life. Don't settle for less than God's best for your life. If that means going through a tunnel of conflict, take the tunnel. In the middle of the tunnel, it will be dark, and you will want to turn and run back. But you've got to keep going until you come out on the other side into the light.

Instead of getting discouraged, be persistent and pray.

Galatians 6:9 says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

This is the law of the harvest: There is always a delay between sowing and reaping. We plant in one season, and we reap in another. God wants to see if we're going to keep cultivating, planting, and sowing. If he sees consistency in our life, then the harvest will come. It will not come immediately, because it proves nothing if he does it immediately, no character development or stretching our faith.

Luke 18:1 tells us that we "must always pray and never lose heart."

Those are the two options we have in life, pray continually, or lose heart. We will always be doing one or the other. If we pray continually, we will not be discouraged. If we don't pray continually, we will lose heart. We will get discouraged by the problems we're facing in our life, whether it's at work or at school or in our family. We've got to keep on praying. What do we pray during the delay phases of life? Pray, "Help me hold on and not give up." God will hear us, and He will help. We are not alone, so we don't have to get discouraged, even when we are delayed.

My Challenge for us today is to not settle for less than God's Best in our life. Push through be persistent......and Pray!

In His Grip.......Pastor Matt Meadows