Feel Like Giving Up?

Are you having a hard time right now and struggling with the disappointments of life? Maybe you’re having personal health problems or grappling with the loss of a dear loved one. Perhaps you have lost your job with no prospects of another one right away or could it be that you are a slave to some habit or addiction that is slowly but surely taking its’ toll on you and your family. Do you just feel like giving up?

The following story is true and while it may not help you to immediately overcome your problem maybe it will help you to understand the need for perseverance. Throughout the scripture we are exhorted to persevere and not to lose heart.

This story is about a man who was born in the year 1809 in a shack of a cabin in the state of Kentucky. Born into abject poverty with a father that was unable to read and write his own name, a wandering non-skilled laborer, they were forced out of their cabin when this young man was seven. His mother was so frail and sickly that she passed away when the boy was nine years of age. As a consequence of circumstances the boy attained almost no formal education.

Δ In 1831 at the age of 22 he tried a career in a business and made a terrible failure.

Δ One year later he ran for the state legislature without any success.

In that same year he lost his job.

Δ He then applied to law school and was laughingly turned away because of his lack of qualifications. What now?

Δ Soon after this incident he borrowed money from a friend and launched another business. This business lasted less than a year and he claimed bankruptcy. He spent the next seventeen years paying his friend back and other debts incurred.

Δ In the year 1835 at the age of 26 he fell deeply in love with a young woman and they became engaged. However she died shortly after their engagement, breaking his heart.

Δ The following year it all caught up with him and as a result he suffered a nervous breakdown which it took him months to overcome.

Δ In 1838 he tried to become speaker of the state legislature but was beaten.

Δ Two years later he tried to become elector of the state and was again defeated.

Δ Three years after this he ran for the congress of the United States and lost.

Δ Finally it looked like things might change as in 1846 he ran again for congress and this time was successful, however, only two years later when running for re-election he was overwhelmingly defeated.

Δ In 1849 he sought the job of land officer in his state and was turned away.

Δ In 1854 he ran for the senate of the United States and you guessed it, he lost!

Δ In 1856 he tried to win the Vice Presidential nomination of his party. This time he suffered the humiliation of receiving less than 100 votes.

Δ In 1858 the story of failure continued when he ran again for the senate and lost.

Finally in 1860 he was elected president of the United States of America but to his sorrow to preside over a country deeply divided and at war within itself. His perseverance brought him a successful re-election and to see the end of that war. Just five days after the war had officially ended on April 14^th. 1865, he was shot and killed, ending his struggle before he reached the age of sixty.

The point of this story is more fully appreciated because of the attainments of this man in spite of the adversity he underwent. This was before the days of millionaire politicians who can buy elections with the throwing of millions of dollars into slick Madison Ave. advertising and where and individual such as the one we are speaking of could never have any chance at attaining such a high office.

The point is, don’t give up, keep on going, knowing that if you will you can come through and out of it better prepared to handle what life may bring your way.

The word of God pictures the trials and troubles that come our way as a fire into which we are put in order to refine us and make us more as God wants us to be. 1 Peter 1:6&7

The gold or silver that was being refined was taken from the crucible and made into a sheet. It was only when that metal was pure enough that the image of the refiner could be seen reflected in it that the refining process was over. So whatever you are going through hang on and hang in God loves you!

Oh, by the way do you know which President the story was about?

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