Don’t Give Up Too Soon

Peter Roget was an accomplished doctor, lecturer, and inventor, but, despite his success, he underwent a great deal of depression. He retired from professional life by the age of sixty-one. Instead of giving up on life to cope with his depression, he started pursuing one of the things he really enjoyed doing  - making lists. He devoted his time to creating a catalogue of words, organised by their meanings.

By age sixty-nine, he began the preparation for the publication of his project. Its first printed edition came out when he was seventy-three. It was called ‘Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases’. He kept working on it until his death at the age of ninety, and, later on, it was revised and expanded by his son and grandson.

To the above individual, we could add many great biblical characters who almost gave up too soon. There were Abraham and Sarah (too old to have the child God promised them), Moses (too old and a poor speaker), Gideon (a nobody hiding away), Elijah (too scared), King David (a murderer and adulterer), and Peter (denied Jesus three times). The list goes on.

It can, and often does, apply to us too. We say, “I’m too old to achieve anything for God. I’m too unwell or disabled, too poor, too weak, not clever enough, not brave enough, or not financially able enough”. Dear reader, do you find yourself believing you are among these?

The truth is that the enemy fears you more than you realise. He’s afraid of what you could accomplish if you believed in the power of God. God calls you to be a warrior. The enemy wants to make you a worrier. What will you be? It really is your choice.

The only expiry date for God’s plans and purposes for you here on earth is when you go to be with Him, or He returns, whichever comes first. Until then, He can do the most amazing things, and achieve the most amazing things through you. You can touch lives that no-one else can touch, and impact situations around you that no-one else can. Don’t focus on what you can’t do, focus on what you can do, in and through His mighty power, and don’t give up too soon. The best may yet be to come.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You know my own particular situation. It’s one that the enemy may be using to handicap me and hold me back, but, though Your mighty power, I intend to use it to achieve the plans and purposes that You have for me. Forgive me for the times I’ve given up. Today, I choose to fight back and turn the enemy’s plans upside down. I declare that, in You, I have the victory. Amen.