Don't Give Up!

A couple of days ago I mentioned to my wife as I was watering our plants in the patio, that our lemon tree looks better now than it ever has.  If you recall the saga of the “Invasion of the Rats” that we experienced at the end of this last spring, then you’ll remember how I wrote about our rat friends devouring every leaf and then chewing on many of the branches of our wonderfully producing citrus.  Following that devastation that reduced the tree to a spindly dead looking array of skinny branches, I decided to prune it down to see what if anything would happen.  Well to my surprise, after what seemed like eternity, little green shoots started gradually appearing on the branches.  These eventually grew into fresh, deep green  branches and leaves.  Now approximately five months later, our lemon tree is bigger than it was before the attack of the rodents, continues to sprout new leaves and seems sturdier than it has ever been over the many years that we have owned it!

In my conversation with my wife, I stated that maybe the rats did us a favor after all!  Sometimes we all need to have a good pruning in order to reshape, strengthen and renew our vigor.  I Corinthians 10:13 says “that no temptation (trial or battle) has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted (or go through a trial or battle), he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (NIV – parenthesis mine) 

I like the picture of us standing under the pressure of the fight.  I believe that this also implies that we will come out with great victory and honor.  I can hardly begin to tell you of all the great victories that we have had as we stood strong on the Word of God throughout the battles in our life.  Like the time many years back when we were fighting the good fight of faith to get through a time of deep financial hardship when God miraculously provided a way for me to be promoted on the job (when the documented procedure said I had to wait a year) and see my pay increase threefold!  Then there was the supernatural set of events and favor of God that enabled us to move into the park like community we now reside in, or the new car that we just received, and the list goes on and on!

I guess the point is to never say never!  The most important part of the above verse to remember is that “God is faithful!”  He loves you so much that He will always stay true to His Word.  So no matter what the circumstances look like, no matter how impossible things may seem, and no matter what negative words those around you may be saying, you can stand firmly on the strong foundation of what He has said to us in His Word and eventually see your way through to the final victory.

Early on in our marriage, my wife and I used to watch the PTL Club on TV every night when I returned home from my swing shift position at Hewlett Packard.  In fact, we purchased our first VCR (remember those with the remote on a long cable?) just so we could record the show at 6:00 in the morning in order to watch it at 11:00 each night.  One song that I vividly remember being sung almost every show encouraged us to “Don’t give up you’re on the brink of a miracle!”  And that’s how I would encourage you today.  No matter what the problem is, no matter how tough the going gets, stick to His Word and don’t give up because you ARE on the brink of a miracle today!

Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What MIRACLE am I expecting today?”