THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - The art of keeping going
A wise old Co. Antrim farmer shared an interesting reflection with me long ago.
"Mr. Clarke," he said, "You can starve cattle any month of the year, provided it's not March." Now, I had no dreams of being a rancher, but the remark intrigued me, and I asked for an explanation, which ran as follows.
When the month of March comes round, fodder for cattle is running low, with the animals kept indoors over the harsh winter months.
Yet spring has not truly arrived, and there may not be enough growth to allow the cattle back into the fields. March is the month for just hanging on, waiting for the arrival of better days. That truth from agriculture is one that others may confirm in their own discipline and experience.
In the New Testament both Jesus and Paul knew that we all must live through the month of March. There come times when we are at a low ebb. At that point, all we can do is to hang on!
Writing to his friends in the district of Galatia (a portion of modern Turkey), Paul pleaded with them "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).
The word Paul uses for 'give up' really means to take the evil out of a situation. In others word, if something happens which disturbs our poise, we should not take the evil out of it, allowing it to ruffle our composure. Long before the age of jazz, Paul suggested we 'accentuate the positive'.
Are they any clues to how we can keep going? One answer lies in prayer. "Men ought always to pray," said Jesus "and not give up."
When we are on he point of sinking, we should lean back upon the everlasting arms. As the poet Clough put it, we must "say not the struggle naught availeth". The assurance of the victory of goodness in God's world should banish despondency, and the key is prayer.
Another secret is to reflect on the life of the Saviour. "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12;3).
One morning commuters were shocked when a passenger on the underground had an epileptic fit. The man beside him, who came to his aid, later apologised to the fellow-passengers. The two men had been soldiers together.
The speaker had been lying in no man's land when his friend had come to his aid. Before getting him safely back to their own lines, a shell exploded nearby and the rescuer suffered serious injuries.
When the war was over, the rescued man went back to America and got engaged to be married. But hearing that his rescuer would never be well, and subject to regular epileptic fits, he broke off his engagement, and came to Britain to care for him.
What he told the passengers that morning was "He did that for me, there is nothing I cannot do for him."
The sacrifice and example of Christ should provide enough motive to keep going, through March and beyond.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Coleraine
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 5 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 32 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 9 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
