“And there came certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch.”
What does a football team do after they lose a game? Do they get together in the locker room afterward and declare to never play football again? No! They pick up and go again. They go out the next week and practice even harder. This is sort of like what Paul did after he had been stoned (had rocks thrown at him in order to kill him) and was left for dead. One would think that Paul would have surmised that this “Christian thing” was just too dangerous. That’s not what he did. He picked up and went again. In fact, they went back to the cities they had preached in and even went to Lystra, where Paul had been stoned. There is a good lesson for us here. We need to learn to “pick up and go again.” When we are going through periods when it seems that nothing will ever go right again for some reason or other, we need to take that as a challenge and go forward instead of quitting. I know that life can hand us some hard blows, but even the hardest of blows cannot keep us down if in our hearts and minds we do not intend to stay down. When I was seventeen-years-old, I quit high school, at the end of the tenth grade, and went into the Navy. Needless to say, I did not feel like a great winner, but something was awakened in me, which was of the Lord, and I stopped being a “high school dropout” in my own mind, and started to go forward. It certainly was not “ever onward” from then on, but I recovered from it. I don’t mean to brag on myself, because without Jesus it would never have happened, and I would probably be dead now - having drowned in self-pity. The Lord gave me a good swift kick where I needed it, and awakened me to a better life. Like I wrote a few lines back, it was not ever onward, but those backsets gave me a chance to “get up and go again.” If we want to get up and go again, we have to believe that the Lord has a purpose for our lives. If I hadn’t discovered that truth in my life, I would have quit. The Lord got hold of me, and in spite of my innate sorriness, led me on. None of us are here by accident, for God has a purpose for everyone. But you might be thinking that few people realize that purpose. That’s true, but that doesn't mean God doesn't have a purpose for them. This has not been a perfect world since Adam and Eve sinned. The Garden of Eden is closed, and people can choose to go their own way. They find purpose of their own for their lives, but they would be better off if they realized God’s purpose for them. You need to consider this for yourself. If we want to get up and go again, we have to put our faith in Jesus. This is why Paul kept on going instead of throwing up his hands and quitting. Even when we are living out God’s purpose for our lives, we still have plenty of ups and downs. We all have high moments and low moments in our lives. The low moments test our faith and they strengthen our faith if we get up and go again. I don’t know what you are going through right now, but I know that God knows, and He is working in your life to bring you victory. Put your faith in Jesus and let Him lead you upward instead of downward. Pick yourself up and go again. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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