Don’t Settle for Less Than God’s Best
By Rick Warren
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV).
When you go through the delays in life, don’t get discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t give up!
The Israelites did, and it kept them out of the Promised Land. Numbers 14:2-4 says, “All the Israelites grumbled against Moses . . . ‘If only we had died in Egypt! . . . We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt” (NIV). They gave up on their dream. They had been rescued after 400 years of slavery but then wanted to go back because they were being delayed.
Like the Israelites, some people would rather live in slavery than face the fear of freedom. They are not willing to push through and work on the problem until they get it right. They want to give up. They settle for mediocrity in life.
Don’t settle for less than God’s best for your life. If that means going through a tunnel of conflict, take the tunnel. In the middle of the tunnel, it will be dark, and you will want to run back to the light. But you’ve got to keep going until you come out on the other side into the light.
Instead of getting discouraged, be persistent and pray.
Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (NIV).
This is the law of the harvest: There is always a delay between sowing and reaping. You plant in one season, and you reap in another. God wants to see if you’re going to keep cultivating, planting, and sowing. If he sees consistency in your life, then the harvest will come. It will not come immediately, because it proves nothing if he does it immediately — no character development or stretching your faith.
Luke 18:1 tells us that we “must always pray and never lose heart” (Phillips).
Those are the two options you have in life: Pray continually, or lose heart. You will always be doing one or the other. If you pray continually, you will not be discouraged. If you don’t pray continually, you will lose heart. You will get discouraged by the problems you’re facing in your life — whether it’s at work or at school or in your family. You’ve got to keep on praying!
What do you pray during the delay phases of life? Pray, “Help me hold on and not give up.” God will hear you, and he will help. You are not alone, so you don’t have to get discouraged, even when you are delayed.
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Talk It Over
What lesson have you learned in your delay? How can you apply that lesson to the pursuit of your dream?
What does it mean to pray continually or “always pray”? How is that possible?
How has God shown you in the past that he is faithful? Remind yourself of those experiences when you start to doubt his faithfulness in your delay.
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This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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