There have probably been times when you’ve felt like you’ve been squeezed to the last drop and you didn’t have an ounce of strength or willpower left. You’ve “despaired even of life,” like Paul, to the point that you didn’t even want to get up in the morning because you didn’t want to have to face another day! I’m sure that all of us have gone to those depths at one time or another, and maybe you’re going through something like that right now, and have been for a long time. Sometimes it helps to think about how Paul and many other men and women of God went through similar things. But here’s the important part: Despite Paul’s trials and tribulations—both in the form of outward persecution and in the form of inward despair, discouragement, and doubt—he held on, declaring that, “None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God” [Acts 20:24] Now that’s a good one for us to remember: “None of these things move me.” In other words, “I’m going to keep holding on no matter what happens. I’m not going to let it deter me from the high calling that the Lord has given me.” That’s the kind of determination that kept Paul going, so that even though he was “perplexed,” he was “not in despair” [2 Corinthians 4:8] “Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” [1 Corinthians 15:58]. How can you be unmovable? By holding on to the Rock—Jesus [See Psalm 62:6]. Everything else is unstable and can get washed away when the waves of life toss you to and fro. The only thing that’ll stay right there and won’t budge an inch is Jesus! So if you want to remain “steadfast and unmovable,” there’s only one way: Hold on to the Lord. And if you do, your labors won’t be in vain, as the Scripture promises. And don’t worry if you’re not strong enough to hold on, because you don’t have to be strong in yourself. Your strength will come from the Lord [See Psalm 46:1; 18:1–2; 121:1]. All you have to do is put your will on the Lord’s side and want to hold on, and then He’ll give you the strength to keep holding on even when you don’t think you can anymore. But you do have to put forth the effort of determining in your heart that you’re going to follow the Lord no matter what! As Isaiah said, “For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” [Isaiah 50:7]. He must have been going through a pretty tough time, but he was determined to hold on to the Lord regardless; and if you do the same, you won’t be ashamed either. ----Maria Fontaine (TFI)
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:08:05 +0000