"There are two words that should be removed from the Christian's dictionary: quit and cannot." I can't tell you how many times I heard the late Dr. Jerry Falwell say those words while I was a student at Liberty University where he was chancellor. They would always come at the most difficult times in the school year, when professor after professor was piling on the work and it seemed that graduation would never come. Now more than 20 years later, the pressures of college life seem so trivial. But they weren't at the time. Just like the pressure and opposition you might be facing today as you seek to fulfill God's purpose for your life are far from trivial. Ezra 4 is a great story of how the Jewish leader Zerubbabel and the other Jews who had returned to Israel from captivity handled the temptation to quit. Team Zerubbabel faced fierce opposition as it sought to rebuild the temple. First it was subtle. "Let us help you," said their opponents, "after all, we believe just like you do." They sought to infiltrate the Jewish ranks and stop their work from within. Zerubbabel, however, was wise to this and would not give the opposition a foothold (v3). When infiltration didn't work, they moved to intense discouragement, even hiring people to try and dissuade the Jews from fulfilling their mission. Still no success, so they wrote lies to the Persian king. Again, without success. The opposition, however, was relentless and continued their attacks until a new king was on the throne who was sympathetic to them. Notice, though, that once they got the ruling they wanted from the king they "went up to Jerusalem against the Jews and by force of arms made them cease" (v23). The only way Zerubbabel and his team were going to quit was if the opposition overpowered them with force. Zerubbabel is a great example of someone who knew his God-given mission and would not let opposition get in the way of accomplishing it. They only reason Zerubbabel stopped was because it was physically impossible to proceed (at least for a while). Here's the point: we should not allow fear (Ezra 3) or opposition from others (Ezra 4) keep us from pursuing the calling that God has placed upon our lives. Now some times the fulfillment of that calling gets interrupted, with no fault of our own (as it did with Zerubbabel). But as we see in later chapters, God in His time provides what we need to finish the task. Don't let the Deceiver infiltrate your thinking. Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might! Eliminate quit and cannot from your dictionary!
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Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker,
and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help
individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please
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