Failure impossible with God in your life

Does life ever seem to be one battle after another? Do you manage to survive one hurdle only to be confronted by another one? Welcome to the club.

In this life we have resistance. If we never resisted anything, life could be rather dull. If no problems existed on earth, would we look forward to heaven?

I love the passage in Isaiah 40:31: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

An airplane takes off against the wind and lands against the wind. With Jesus, we can “take off” and “land” in the storms of life. We will truly “mount up with wings as eagles,” for we will not be forsaken. Eagles spread their wings while the wind and storms carry them above the conflict. You and I can do that, too.

The bumblebee does not know his big body and tiny little wings are supposed to make it impossible for him to fly. Guess what? He flies anyway! His secret?

“With God all things are possible,” and that’s why it’s always too soon to quit in this race of life.

That incurable disease may be eliminated tomorrow with a miraculous cure.

The salvation of that loved one you have prayed for might happen today.

The apostle Paul admonishes us to not only run this race of life with diligence, but to even “stretch” and “strain” forward to reach the goal and obtain the prize. (Philippians 3:14)

We need more “Calebs” today. I love his spirit. When the spies returned with a real “downer” about the land of Canaan, Caleb “stilled the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.’” (Numbers 13:30.) Yea Caleb! He’s my kind of guy.

Later in Joshua 14:10-11, Caleb is now 85 years old, and he is saying, in essence, “It’s always too soon to quit.”

Caleb said, “And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as he said, these 40 and five years, even since the Lord spoke this unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in.”

Many fears cause us to “throw in the towel.” Fear of failure, illness, old age, death, accidents, financial loss and the list goes on, but let’s not give up! With our God anything is possible. He planned your life, and he wants the highest good for you. (At any age.)

Trust in the Lord cancels all the negatives. Be persistent. It requires a stubborn faith in the midst of hard circumstances. One of the saddest things to me is when we get to heaven, we will have discovered we could have run over the enemy roughshod. Jesus did not leave us defenseless. He gave us weapons in Ephesians 6:13-18. We are in a spiritual war and with these weapons we win!

Stand strong. Meet the problem head on.

Be a Caleb.

Be encouraged today. Set your face like a flint and say, “Life, here I come.”

Victory is just around the corner.

It’s always too soon to quit!

Portales resident Joan Clayton is a retired teacher and published author. Her e-mail address is: [email protected]