by Erwin Bourne—April 11, 2002 An Irishman with both arms loaded with sacks of groceries stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk. There he lay with the paper bags ripped and all the contents scattered on the ground. A sight of abject dejection. “Why don’t you get up?” a passerby asked, The sad Irishman answered, “What’s the use!” Dear reader, get this message: Failure is not fatal! When Henry Ford was building his firsr automobile, he realized there were many features on which he could make improvements. However, he also knew that if he were to make the improvements immediately, he would never get the first model built. You may look at a matured Christian and conclude, “I can never be like them.” Hey! God isn’t discouraged with you, and He ain’t through with you yet! Old Albert Pratt, an eighty-some year old cowboy retired in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, loved to sing in my camp meetings the self-explanatory song: DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH. Let me repeat, God ain’t through with you yet! Why give up on God? Peter, the fisherman, was a zealous disciple of his Master. He once said, “Lord, I am ready to go to prison with you, and even to die with you” (Luke 22:33 NLT). But let’s notice what preceded Peter’s declaration. Jesus had just told Peter that Satan desired to sift him like wheat—to shake him up good and destroy what was valuable—but Jesus went on to tell Peter: “But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail.” Let’s place your name and mine along with Peter’s, that Christ might plead in prayer for us. Let’s establish all this truth by reading Philippians 1:6: And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day that Christ Jesus comes back again (NLT). Keep up your courage. We’re hoping for the best! Erwin Bourne <HOME <ARCHIVES