Never Give Up!!

By Ed Wrather Jun 17, 2004 04:33 EDT

“And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an

handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am

gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son,

that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and

do as thou has said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it

unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the

Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the

cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth

(1 Kings 17:12-14).”

Today the United States creates more garbage than any other country

in the world. We are a throw away society. Disposable seems to

always be better than the reusable. It wasn’t always that way. During

the depression years and through much of the war years in the United

States things were different. During those years not very much of

anything was thrown away because everything was needed to survive.

Everything was used down to the last drop, down to the last tiny bit.

During WW II tires were very hard to find because of use of the

material in the war effort. Neighbors would sometimes share tires with

each other in order to have one vehicle they could use. If someone in

the family was ill, having a vehicle that had tires became very

important. Because of that, my Dad hoarded old tires for years after

the war. He’s finally gotten rid of most of them now. But he still

remembers a time when an old tire would have meant almost the

difference between life and death.

In these modern times I believe we give up too easily. We give up too

early. We give up before it’s down to the last drop. We give up before

we are down to our last dollar. We would do well to remember Elijah

and the widow of Zarephath. God gave them the food they needed as long

as it was needed. We should remember the example of our Lord at the

feeding of the five thousand and of the four thousand. Only a very little

food and it was enough for only a few people. But our Lord blessed the

food and it was multiplied into a provision for the thousands with

baskets of food left over.

Before we give up. Before we bail out. Let us give God an opportunity

to work that miracle in our lives. Let us thank God for all that we have

and are. Ask Him to sustain us. When we think we can’t make it

another day, let us live one more and see what God will do. When

we’ve gone our last mile, let us walk one more. As we do, we will see

the hand of God upon our lives sustaining us each day as we trust Him

to provide. Never, ever, give up!!