Keep on Doing What Is Right

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”
John 17:3–5

There are many reasons people fail to accomplish all that they could or should in God’s work. One of the most common explanations for failure is that people stop doing what is right. The walls of Jericho did not fall down when the Israelites marched around the city on the first day, or the third, or even the sixth. It was not until they completed the seventh circuit on the seventh day that God stepped in to give them the victory. It is not always fun or exciting to do God’s will—it is simply obedience, again and again, that leads us to the place we should be.
It is easy to allow ourselves to become discouraged and decide that it doesn’t matter whether we keep going. Many have missed victories that could have been won if they had simply remained faithful and kept going. There will always be reasons and excuses for those who want to quit, but that is the time when it is most important that we do not give up. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). As the old poem puts it:
Success is failure turned inside out—
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell just how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

You will never finish God’s course for your life if you are not faithful to stay on it.