Never Give Up!!

“And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an
handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am
gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son,
that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and
do as thou has said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it
unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the
Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth
(1 Kings 17:12-14).”

Today the United States creates more garbage than any other country
in the world. We are a throw away society. Disposable seems to
always be better than the reusable. It wasn’t always that way. During
the depression years and through much of the war years in the United
States things were different. During those years not very much of
anything was thrown away because everything was needed to survive.
Everything was used down to the last drop, down to the last tiny bit.

During WW II tires were very hard to find because of use of the
material in the war effort. Neighbors would sometimes share tires with
each other in order to have one vehicle they could use. If someone in
the family was ill, having a vehicle that had tires became very
important. Because of that, my Dad hoarded old tires for years after
the war. He’s finally gotten rid of most of them now. But he still
remembers a time when an old tire would have meant almost the
difference between life and death.

In these modern times I believe we give up too easily. We give up too
early. We give up before it’s down to the last drop. We give up before
we are down to our last dollar. We would do well to remember Elijah
and the widow of Zarephath. God gave them the food they needed as long
as it was needed. We should remember the example of our Lord at the
feeding of the five thousand and of the four thousand. Only a very little
food and it was enough for only a few people. But our Lord blessed the
food and it was multiplied into a provision for the thousands with
baskets of food left over.

Before we give up. Before we bail out. Let us give God an opportunity
to work that miracle in our lives. Let us thank God for all that we have
and are. Ask Him to sustain us. When we think we can’t make it
another day, let us live one more and see what God will do. When
we’ve gone our last mile, let us walk one more. As we do, we will see
the hand of God upon our lives sustaining us each day as we trust Him
to provide. Never, ever, give up!!