Keep trying!

Whew, the lazy days of summer are upon us... and it's been a struggle to make myself sit down and write something. Distractions, detours, busyness, exhaustion all conspire to get us off our schedule and our priorities. I feel a bit like our dog, Moses, who likes to spend his days in quiet comfort, lying around, eating, resting, eating, taking ever shorter and shorter walks, eating, resting. How quickly I get lulled into frittering away my days. Lord, as the Psalmist declares, help us to number our days aright that we might gain a heart of wisdom. (Ps. 90:12)

I read a quote I loved from a book I am reading right now, Chesapeake. One of the characters, a strong, intelligent, and wonderful woman named Rosalind Steed, lived in the hard days of the early 18th century in the wilds of the colony of Maryland. She and her nephew, Mark, are talking when she alludes to something from one of Shakespeare's plays. "'I couldn't understand Shakespeare,' Mark said honestly." Rosalind responds: "'Nor could I... the first two times. Character consists in what you do on the third and fourth tries." Amen!

As we approach the July 4th celebration, we should remember we owe the birth and building of this nation to men and women who displayed their character by what they did on the third and fourth and fifth tries after failure and unimaginable hardship and toil. Help us, Lord, to be men and women of character who don't give up and keep trying, in the power of the Holy Spirit, on the fourth and fifth and sixth tries. Heb. 6:11-12 put it this way: "And we desire that each of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise." Put away sluggishness and put on perseverance and diligence! We have such incredible role models to imitate-- from the great saints of the Bible to the founders of our nation to, of course, the Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. So Lord, when our feelings say give up or give in, help us to push on and keep trying. And to God be the glory.