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- Apr 25, 2006
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When the Going Gets Tough
'Gideon ... crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit' Judges 8:4
Are you thinking of quitting? Thinking of giving up? You were doing OK, you believed you could make a difference, believed you could do it... until they poured criticism and cold water on you, laughed at and knocked you down.
We all have times when we feel like throwing in the towel. When Gideon fought the Midianites we read that he 'came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit'. He was completely done in, but Gideon kept on going, refusing to let the river intimidate him, or tiredness stop him, and God gave him a great victory!
God can do the same for you. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul reminds us we may think we are at the end of the rope, but we are never at the end of hope:
'We're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times ... We've been ... battered by troubles, but we're not demoralised; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorised, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken! ...
So we're not giving up ... These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us .... The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever' (vv. 1-2, 7-12, 16-18 TM).
written by Bob Gass
'Gideon ... crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit' Judges 8:4
Are you thinking of quitting? Thinking of giving up? You were doing OK, you believed you could make a difference, believed you could do it... until they poured criticism and cold water on you, laughed at and knocked you down.
We all have times when we feel like throwing in the towel. When Gideon fought the Midianites we read that he 'came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit'. He was completely done in, but Gideon kept on going, refusing to let the river intimidate him, or tiredness stop him, and God gave him a great victory!
God can do the same for you. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul reminds us we may think we are at the end of the rope, but we are never at the end of hope:
'We're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times ... We've been ... battered by troubles, but we're not demoralised; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorised, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken! ...
So we're not giving up ... These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us .... The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever' (vv. 1-2, 7-12, 16-18 TM).
written by Bob Gass
