2021-01-18
Jesaja 50:7 NLV
Iemand het een keer vir die kampioenvegter, James Corbett, gevra: ‘Wat is die belangrikste ding wat ‘n man moet doen om ‘n kampioen te word?’ Hy het geantwoord: ‘Veg nog ‘n rondte.’ Suksesvolle mense het verskillende talente, maar hulle het almal dieselfde kwaliteite: volharding, hardnekkigheid en taaiheid.
Thomas Grey het vyf-en-sewentig manuskripte geskryf voordat hy tevrede was met Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, sy poëtiese meesterstuk. S.N. Behrman, die Amerikaanse dramaturg, het vir elf jaar lank toneelstukke geskryf voor hy ‘n enkele een verkoop het. Somerset Maugham het net vyfhonderd dollar in sy eerste tien jaar as skrywer verdien. Terwyl hy voltyds in ‘n fabriek gewerk het, het Enrico Caruso vir twaalf jaar sanglesse geneem voordat hy ‘n tenoor geword het. George Gershwin het amper eenhonderd melodieë gekomponeer voor hy sy eerste een vir vyf dollar verkoop het.
Daar is ‘n belangrike les uit elkeen van hierdie verhale te leer: As jou droom nie onmiddellik plaasvind nie, moenie moedeloos word nie. Hou aan om aan jou droom te werk en ontwikkel jou talent. Studeer en leer. Groei deur ervaring. Hou aan werk. Oorwinning word aan die man of vrou gegee wat ‘nog ‘n rondte veg.’ Wanneer jy tou opgooi, kan God niks meer vir jou doen nie. Wanneer jy egter volhard, sal Hy jou help. Let op wat sy Woord sê: ‘Omdat die oppermagtige Here my help, sal ek nie in die skande kom nie. Ek het my gesig hard soos vuurklip gemaak. Ek weet ek sal nie in die verleentheid kom nie.’ Wanneer beloof God om jou te help? Wanneer jy jou gesig so hard soos vuurklip maak.
Sielskos: Eks 39-40; Matt 8:10-17; Ps 84; Spr 2:16-19
Isaiah 50:7 NKJV
Prize fighter James Corbett was once asked: “What’s the most important thing for a man to do to become a champion?” He replied, “Fight one more round.” Successful people have different talents, but they all have these qualities: perseverance, tenacity, and stick-to-it-iveness.
Thomas Grey wrote seventy-five drafts of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” before he was satisfied with his poetic masterpiece. S.N. Behrman, the American playwright, wrote plays for eleven years before he sold a single one. Somerset Maugham earned only five hundred dollars in his first ten years as a writer. While working full time in a factory, Enrico Caruso studied voice for twelve years before becoming a successful performer. George Gershwin composed almost one hundred melodies before he sold his first one – for five dollars.
There’s an important lesson for you in each of these stories: If your dream doesn’t come true immediately, don’t get discouraged. Continue to pursue your craft and develop your talent. Study and learn. Grow by experience. Keep working. Victory goes to the man or woman who is willing to “fight one more round.” When you quit, God can do no more for you. But when you persevere, He will come to your aid.
Note what His Word says: “The Lord God will help Me; therefore I shall not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.” When does God promise to help you? When you set your face like a flint.
Soul food: Exo 39-40; Matt 8:10-17; Ps 84; Prov 2:16-19
Isaiah 50:7 NCV
When we come up against problems that seem too big for us to handle, when we don’t seem to be getting anywhere, when we’ve tried and failed, and when we feel like God’s not listening, often our first reaction is to give up. Throughout the Bible, we can find examples of people who also faced all kinds of discouragements and obstacles, but found the courage to persevere in their faith, their purpose, or in a task that God has assigned to them.
In the Old Testament, we read about Job, who suffered all kinds of afflictions and sorrows, but stayed faithful to God. Luke 18 begins with Jesus telling the story of a widow who asked a judge to grant the justice she deserved. He refused, but she kept asking persistently until he granted her request. Paul’s mission to spread the gospel was filled with obstacles and danger. He experienced hunger and thirst, he was shipwrecked, beaten, and thrown in prison (you can read about everything he faced in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33). But he showed great resilience throughout everything he went through, because he remained focused on Jesus and the promise of heaven.
We need to do the same. When we persevere, God will help us accomplish everything He’s laid out for us to do in His kingdom. If God’s promises to us don’t happen immediately, if we face obstacles, or if we fail at something, we mustn’t get discouraged. Instead, we should ‘look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect’ (Hebrews 12:2 NCV), and say: ‘The Lord GOD will help me, so I will not be ashamed. I will be determined, and I know I will not be disgraced.’
Exo 39-40; Matt 8:10-17; Ps 84; Prov 2:16-19
2021-01-17
Acts 3:19 NCV
Do you enjoy the feeling of turning over to a new page in your notebook or journal? There in front of you is a fresh, blank page, full of potential. It can also be a slightly nerve-wracking feeling if you’re worried about making a mistake and ruining that pristine page. We can feel the same way about our lives. Every day God gives us the chance and the choice to make a fresh start.
In Acts 3, after Paul had healed the man who couldn’t walk, the people who saw the miracle crowded round Peter and John. Peter said to them: ‘Brothers and sisters, I know you did those things to Jesus because neither you nor your leaders understood what you were doing…you must change your hearts and lives! Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins’ (Acts 3:17-19 NCV). These were the same people who had called for Jesus to be crucified, but God still invited them to turn to Him and make a fresh start with Him. And God extends the same invitation to us, regardless of the mistakes we’ve made before.
Each day is a fresh opportunity to draw close to Him and allow Him to change our hearts and minds, with fresh potential to explore as we align ourselves with His will. We’re not perfect, so it’s highly likely that we’ll still make mistakes or wander away from God in some way, but we know ‘he will forgive [our] sins’. So whatever the day ahead holds for us, let’s approach it with the same feeling of turning over to a fresh page. We can’t change our past, but with God, we can change our future.
Gen 5:22-24; Heb 11:5; 2 Kings 2:1-12; Acts 1:9-11
Spreuke 23:7 AFR53
Dit was ‘n lang, harde pad wat die Chandler familie uit die katoenvelde en uit armoede in Mississippi moes stap. Al nege van die kinders kon die bywonershuisie waarin hulle moes bly en dat hulle nie genoeg gehad het om te eet nie, onthou. Vandag het al nege kinders egter universiteitsgrade agter hulle name!
Hier is hulle inspirerende verhaal: Hulle ouers het twee dollars geleen om ‘n buskaartjie vir hulle seun Cleveland te koop, wat uiteindelik die voorsitter van die departement van ekonomie aan Howard Universiteit geword het. Luther het die Universiteit van Omaha bygewoon en die bestuurder van publieke werke vir Kansas City geword. Hy het sy broer James gehelp om Omaha toe te kom en toe van daar af hom gehelp om werk by Yale Universiteit te kry. James het op sy beurt weer vir Herman gehelp, wat nou ‘n tegniese bestuurder in Dallas is. Donald werk in Minneapolis. Die kinders het ook hulself gehelp – deur katoen te pluk, mielies te oes en aartappels op te grawe. Fortson het die Morehouse Kollege in Atlanta bygewoon en ‘n prediker in Colorado geword. Princess het haar M.A. graad aan Indiana Universiteit behaal en ‘n onderwyseres geword. Gloria is ook ‘n onderwyseres. Bessie het ‘n M.A. graad en is ‘n dieetkundige by ‘n hospitaal. In 1984, het al die kinders bymekaar gekom en vir hulle ouers ‘n huis gekoop.
Die Bybel sê: ‘Want soos hy in sy siel bereken, so is hy…’ As jy jouself oortuig dat jy nie kan nie, of ander mense toelaat om jou daarvan te oortuig, sal jy nie kan nie. As jy egter glo dat jy deur God se genade kan, dan sal jy! As die Chandlers dit kon doen, kan jy ook. Vergeet dit wat in die verlede gebeur het! Elke dag gee God jou die keuse om jou lewe oor te begin.
Sielskos: Gen 5:22-24; Heb 11:5; 2 Kon 2:1-12; Hand 1:9-11
