Don’t Give up!

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. (Proverbs 10:4)

Are you discouraged? Things not working out for you? You are not alone. Many people are frustrated with life. Living a life of defeat can be depressing, but don’t give up. I was watching a movie about a well-known musical group that was popular in the ’60s called the Temptations. The leader of the group Otis Williams had a vision to hit it big and be well-known around the music circles. He encountered many problems. First, they were swindled of money that, rightfully, belonged to them. Another problem was the group breaking up. Everybody had given up except Otis. He persisted and got new men for the group, and he managed to get a recording contract with Motown.

Their joy was short-lived. They encountered another obstacle. Their records were not selling. The members of the group were discouraged, but Otis refused to give up. After many attempts recording other songs, they managed to get a hit and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. The rest was history and they established a musical legacy that would last for years. What would have happened had he given up? He would not have been able to enjoy the fruits of his success.

I know that this is a secular group, but I want to compare this to the life of Issac. Issac was a miracle baby that was born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. Sarah laughed at God’s promise. God caught her laughing and reaffirmed his promise to her. Upon the son being born, Abraham named him Issac, which means laughter. God had the last laugh, but there is more to this. We will see an example of what happened to Isaac and his wells. ( Gen 18:12-15, Gen 21:1-3)

Issac–Persistence and triumph

Issac had a challenge in life. He was living in a land of famine and had plans to move into Egypt. Upon his journey to Egypt, God warned him not to go to that place, but to settle in Gerar. Gerar was a desert place. He moved Issac from a land of famine into a desert place. To the natural mind, this does not make sense, but Issac trusted God and sowed in that place. Within a year, he got a hundred fold return. (Gen 26:1-14) Because he trusted God, he prospered and became very great. He got uncommon favor with the people and established divine connections.

But the story does not end there, he had a vision to expand. He started to invest in wells. In the desert, water was a expensive commodity and he saw the future of his investment. He had obstacles. In one case, the well was filled with dirt. On another occasion, there was a fight for the wells that, rightfully, belonged to him. Did Issac give up? Did he abandon his vision? No, he was persistent and God blessed him with more wells. He grew even bigger in in his sphere of influence that his enemies respected him. (Gen 26:12-33)

Since Issac means laughter, God is trying to show us something. We had talked about the joy of the Lord in our past Bible studies. Laughter is a fruit of joy. Laughter is good for you. Medical science has discovered that laughing can improve your health. If that is so–how much more holy laughter? Friend, when you got born-again, you entered into covenant with God. Since you are in covenant with God, your enemies are his enemies. Ps 2:4 says that God is laughing at his enemies. He knows the end result –He wins and we are more than conquerors (Ps 2:5, Rom 8:37)

When you enter into the dimension of holy laughter, things may get worse. Your wells may be filled with dirt, you may have obstacles and things blocking your progress, but if you do not lose you joy, you will dig out from your wells of salvation and see victory in your life. (Isa 12:3) Persistence pays off. Never, never give up on your dreams and visions. Victory awaits you.

Bible verses courtesy of http://www.biblegateway.com

Prayer–Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me today. Thank you for giving me visions and dreams. Help me to not give up on my visions and dreams. Show me more about the joy of the Lord and Holy Laughter. In Jesus name…amen.