Don't Give Up Before You Have Even Tried
But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. "Let's go at once to take the land," he said. "We can certainly conquer it!"
But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. "We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: "The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants . . . Numbers 13:30-33 (NLT)
But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. "We can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: "The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants . . . Numbers 13:30-33 (NLT)
It is one thing to be given a promise. It is quite another thing to take possession of that promise.
All through Scripture, we see evidence that God's servants had to take practical steps to turn the promises of God into reality. Victory never came to anyone who sat and folded their arms! God never drops victory into our laps! Even the manna from heaven had to be "gathered." God did not drop it into their mouths!
Abraham had to set out away from his people and travel to an unknown land to obtain the promised blessings. David had to fight Goliath in order to secure the victory! Jesus had to endure the shame of the cross before He was given the name above all names.
The truth is: The promises of God would never be turned into fulfilled reality until we take concrete steps to obtain those promises. The Bible declares in Psalm 81:10 (NLT), "For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things." Initiative matters to God!
Unfortunately, many never move from promise to reality. We are unwilling to take the initiative because the circumstances look daunting and we are afraid to fail!
That is what happened to the Israelites. In spite of the promises of God, their attitude was, "we can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" They gave up even before they had tried! As a result, the Promised land never became a reality for some of them.
I often tell people that I will rather set out and fall flat on my face in failure than hold back and wonder for the rest of my life what would have happened if I had only tried!
Never give up before you have tried over and over again! You never know what you might accomplish on the next try! May God give you the boldness to take practical steps to fulfill your vision, no matter how challenging the situation might be. If you believe, all things are possible.
Don't give up before trying!
All through Scripture, we see evidence that God's servants had to take practical steps to turn the promises of God into reality. Victory never came to anyone who sat and folded their arms! God never drops victory into our laps! Even the manna from heaven had to be "gathered." God did not drop it into their mouths!
Abraham had to set out away from his people and travel to an unknown land to obtain the promised blessings. David had to fight Goliath in order to secure the victory! Jesus had to endure the shame of the cross before He was given the name above all names.
The truth is: The promises of God would never be turned into fulfilled reality until we take concrete steps to obtain those promises. The Bible declares in Psalm 81:10 (NLT), "For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things." Initiative matters to God!
Unfortunately, many never move from promise to reality. We are unwilling to take the initiative because the circumstances look daunting and we are afraid to fail!
That is what happened to the Israelites. In spite of the promises of God, their attitude was, "we can't go up against them! They are stronger than we are!" They gave up even before they had tried! As a result, the Promised land never became a reality for some of them.
I often tell people that I will rather set out and fall flat on my face in failure than hold back and wonder for the rest of my life what would have happened if I had only tried!
Never give up before you have tried over and over again! You never know what you might accomplish on the next try! May God give you the boldness to take practical steps to fulfill your vision, no matter how challenging the situation might be. If you believe, all things are possible.
Don't give up before trying!
Prayer: Lord, I know the challenges of my situation are real. But I ask for the grace to take the initiative toward accomplishing my vision. You are with me and therefore I have nothing to be afraid of. Amen