Hold on!

Herewith another very compelling story I read:

Shaped for Glory

During the Great Depression, a good man lost his job, exhausted his savings and forfeited his home. His grief was multiplied by the sudden death of his precious wife. The only thing he had left was his faith-and it was weakening.

One day he was combing the neighborhood looking for work. He stopped to watch some men who were doing the stonework on a church building. One of these men was skillfully chiseling a triangular piece of rock. Not seeing a spot where it would fit, he asked, "Where are you going to put that?" The man pointed toward the top of the building and said, "See that little opening up near the spire? That is where it goes. I am shaping it down here so it will fit in up there."

Some of you are going through terrible troublesome times. You may be experiencing some heartbreaking sorrow. Or perhaps you are enduring some painful physical illness. Or it may be something else-maybe even too excruciating to talk to anyone about. The blows of the hammer and chisel hurt.

But hold on to your faith. These difficulties will not get you down. They are only temporary. Glory is coming. It is the harsh blows to the outward man that often bring the greatest strength to the inner man.

Keep praying. Keep believing. The Master has to do some shaping of us down here so we will fit in up there.

Psa 77:1 An Asaph psalm. I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens. 2 I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord; my life was an open wound that wouldn't heal. When friends said, "Everything will turn out all right," I didn't believe a word they said. 3 I remember God--and shake my head. I ow my head--then wring my hands. 4 I'm awake all night--not a wink of sleep; I can't ven say what's bothering me. 5 I go over the days one by one, I ponder the years gone y. 6 I strum my lute all through the night, ondering how to get my life together. 7 Will the Lord walk off and leave us for good? Will he never smile again? 8 Is his love orn threadbare? Has his salvation promise burned out? 9 Has God forgotten his manners Has he angrily stalked off and left us? 10 "Just my
luck," I said. "The High God goesut of business just the moment I
need him." 11 Once again I'll go over what Godhas done, lay out on the table the
ancient wonders; 12 I'll ponder all the thingsyou've accomplished, and give a long, loving look at your acts. 13 O God! Your way isholy! No god is great like God! 14 You're the God who makes things happen; youshowed everyone what you can do-- 15 You pulled your people out of the worst kind oftrouble, rescued the children of Jacob and
Joseph.

In one of his most compelling speeches, Winston Churchill addressed the group and said “never, never, never give up” In one of his famous if not the most famous adress during WW2, he stated “we will fight them on the land, we will fight them at sea, we will fight them in the air, we will fight them on the beaches, but we will never surrender”

Just like the attacks on Britain by the Luftwaffe, when wave after wave of nazi bombers and fighters attacked the U.K. our lives sometimes seem under wave upon wave of attack by the enemy.

But: like the brave fighter pilots of the Royal Airforce during what is known as “the battle for Britain”, we should bravely face attack after attack, determined with a Godly determination, never to surrender.

Winston Churchill later stated that never before did so many owe so much to so few. Referring to the bravery of the R A F pilots and their efforts to protect Britain.

It might seem that we stand in the battle alone, that we are facing hordes of the enemy. But Praise be to God!

We are not alone. The God of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, declares that we will be victorious.

He said, I believe it and that settles it!