On October 29, 1941, to the boys of Harrow School, Winston Churchill gave a speech in which he made this statement, “This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” Regardless of what you are facing or how great the enemy may seem that is coming against you, through Jesus Christ you are more than a conqueror. Just as Winston Churchill encouraged the nation of England to never give up and never give in to the enemy that wanted to destroy them, the Lord is telling us today to do the same. Don’t settle!
One of the easiest things to do when things are not going the way you had planned or believed for, is to settle for the way things are right now. Sadly most people, believers included, tend to give up when the going gets tough. They accept the status-quo as permanent and unchangeable. Maybe you have succumbed to the problems and difficulties you are experiencing today. Perhaps you have given in to sickness or pain, financial difficulties, or relationship challenges. Maybe you have adapted the mindset that things are never going to change. My challenge to you today is to not settle, to not give in, to not give up!
Scripture is full of stories of people who refused to settle. Abraham could have stayed in Ur and enjoyed his senior years surrounded by what was familiar to him. But, he didn’t. After an encounter with God he caught a vision of something so great that he left Ur and spent the rest of his life walking out a land that would someday become his descendents. It was through his faith and refusal to settle, that a new nation was born, and through his lineage Jesus came to this earth. Imagine how different things would be had he settled.
As a young man Joseph had a dream of someday being in a position of leadership and authority that even his own family would be blessed by. Even though he was sold into slavery, falsely accused of sexual misconduct with his bosses wife and ultimately wrongly imprisoned, he never settled for less than what God had promised him. Even in prison the Bible teaches us that God prospered him. With all of the negative setbacks that came his way it would have been easy to settle for the status-quo and give up on his dream. Bur he didn’t and ultimately he became the Prime Minister of a foreign country and was responsible for saving many lives, his families included, from a global famine.
Born as a Hebrew child Moses was raised in Pharaohs house as the son of an Egyptian princess. His first forty years of existence was one surrounded by opulence and abundance. He could have been content with his surroundings and his lifestyle, and settled for a life of luxury, but he didn’t. Deep in Moses’ heart he knew his life had more meaning and purpose than that. Somehow he knew he was born to be the deliverer of God’s people from the slavery of Egypt. Even though he had to spend the next forty years of his life tending sheep for his father-in-law on the backside of the desert, he never settled. After God spoke to him from a burning bush and answered his objections and excuses, he returned to Egypt and led the children of Israel out of bondage.
In the New Testament there is the story of Blind Bartimeus. Blind from birth, forced to beg for his sustenance, he never settled for living his whole life as a blind ma. One day when he heard Jesus of Nazareth was coming his way he began to cry out with a loud voice for Jesus to heal him. Even though those around him tried to quiet him down and to not trouble the master, they couldn’t do it. The Bible says he cried the more loudly. When Jesus heard his voice he stopped what he was doing and restored his sight. Had he settled for less than what was possible he would have lived the rest of his life as a blind beggar. But he didn’t settle!
Are you settling today for less than the best God has created you to enjoy? Have the troubles of life gotten the best of you? Are you on the verge of just giving up?
I have good news for you today. You don’t have to settle. You can by faith rise up and take possession of everything God has promised you in His word! God is no respecter of persons. If he has blessed just one other who refused to quit, He will bless you. There is nothing to hard for our God. He desires to do exceeding, abundantly, above all you can ask or think. And, He will if you will keep on fighting, keep on believing, and keep on obeying!
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