A Sunday school teacher was telling the story of how Jonah disobeyed God and ended up being swallowed by a big fish. For three days, he cried out from the depths of the ocean, and after three days and nights, God ordered the fish to spit him up on the beach. At the end of the lesson, the teacher asked the class what they had learned, and a little boy piped up, ‘It just goes to prove that you can’t keep a good man down.’ You don’t drown by falling into the water; you drown by staying there. David said, ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD…Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him’ (Psalm 37:23-24 NKJV). When your dreams and plans get rained out, stay focused and ‘run with perseverance’ (Hebrews 12:1 NIV). Winston Churchill said, ‘The nose of the bulldog slants backward, so that he can breathe in comfort without letting go.’ When you focus on something, you empower and give it momentum; that’s why Satan wants you to concentrate on things that don’t matter. Jesus looked beyond the cross. He focused on what lay on the other side of it. The Bible tells us to fix ‘our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith’. Remember, God doesn’t pay by the week; He pays at the end. You will be rewarded based on how you finished, not how you started. Paul says, ‘These troubles and sufferings…won’t last very long. Yet…result in God’s richest blessing upon us forever’ (2 Corinthians 4:17 TLB). So, stay focused – and keep on going!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.