"THE HARDEST THING TO DO IS ..."

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

ISAIAH 40:25-31

1. TO BE POSITIVE: VV25-28:
1. In response to the negative, querulous whining of the Jews that He is either neglectful, ignorant or unjust, God replies: "Don't you know or have you forgotten that I made the universe and nothing is beyond My knowledge, skill or power?" The meaning is, "Don't let negativism cloud your realization that I can and will help you!"
2. Sometimes when we get into hard times we get negative about God, about life, about ourselves, and about the future. We vainly imagine we are in some special set of circumstances where:
1. God doesn't know what is happening to us.
2. God doesn't care about what is happening to us.
3. God isn't able to do anything about what is happening to us.
3. But never forget! God knows, God cares, God is able to deliver! Nothing is too difficult for Him! No purpose of His can be thwarted! All things are possible to Him! He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all we ask or think! Always be positive of that!
4. To maintain that positive attitude, there are 5 "ism's" we ought to avoid like the spiritual plague they are:
1. Pessimism: "I can't do it! God can't do it! Nobody can do it!"
2. Defeatism: "It's hopeless! I've lost! It's over! There's no use of trying anymore!"
3. Criticism: "If I were running this universe, there'd be some rad changes, you can bet on it! I'd do better than God is doing!"
4. Cynicism: "Life is a bummer! Nothing goes right for me! Everybody else gets the breaks!"
5. Skepticism: "I just don't believe! I can't trust God anymore! He isn't there for me!"

The Jews in Isaiah's text were negative in their thinking about their plight and God's concern. Dewitt was getting negative, too. He thought nobody cared about his project but himself. Then he met Lila Bell Acheson who believed in his idea. She encouraged and supported him and as a result he sent many letters out to potential subscribers and then just had to wait. He married Lila Bell and when they got back from their honeymoon, they found a bundle of letters from subscribers. There were times, doubtless, when he wondered, "how long? Will this ever get off the ground?" Sometimes we wonder that, too; but when we are most discouraged, let's keep positive, and, though it is hardest to do in a discouraged state, we need also:

2. TO BE PATIENT: V31:
1. The Jews were impatient as was the psalmist who cried out: "How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?" Psalms 13:1.
2. We may cry out the same thing, but it is waiting on the Lord that produces the needed resources in the needful moment. God is never too late -- but He is never early, either!!
3. The psalmist speaks to us at this point:
1. Psalms 27:14 "wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord."
2. Psalms 37:7 "rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes."
3. Psalms 37:34 "wait for the Lord, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it."
4. Psalms 62:5 "my soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him."
4. You may be like one little girl who came crying to her daddy: "My garden died!" He went to see, and sure enough all the plants were withered and brown. He said, "What did you do?" She said, tearfully, "I pulled on the plants to make them grow faster and my garden died!" It takes patience to grow a garden -- and to live a life!

The Jews to whom God spoke seemed to be unable to wait and they wanted their justice right now! They wanted God's immediate reply and deliverance! But God told them they needed a spirit of patience. Dewitt needed that same spirit. He patiently pursued his dream and in february of 1922, 12 years after he conceived the idea, he and Lila Bell produced volume 1, number 1 of their work, which, over the years grew to be the best selling magazine in the world. They didn't give up. They kept on keeping on. They met and overcame another of the hardest things to do in discouragement, and that is:

3. TO BE PERSISTENT: V31:
1. The Jews needed to run as long as they could and then simply to walk even though they were weary. They needed to draw strength and sustenance from God who made them!
2. Sometimes we say, "But I can't run any more; I can't even walk any further! I'm just too exhausted!"
1. Listen to Solomon: "I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all." Ecclesiastes 9:11. Though he wrote somewhat pessimistically, he is right: the race is not to the swift (because of their swiftness), the battle not to the warriors (because of their prowess)! But what he seems to have missed is that the race and the battle do belong to those who by faith are persistent!
2. Listen to Paul in prison: "I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me!" Philippians 4:13.
3. Listen to Peter: "And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." 1 Peter 5:10.
3. We, too, often just need to keep plugging along; running when we can and merely walking when we can't run any further. And we can persevere because God has not left us without resources!
1. He has given us Scripture to guide and inspire us: "for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:4.
2. He has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us! "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4.
3. He has limited the amount of temptation that can come to us! "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13.
4. He provides access to His throne in prayer! "Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16.
5. He has given us other Christians to help, admonish and encourage us! "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:23-25.
4. Harold Sherman wrote a book entitled "How to turn failure into success." In it he gives a "code of persistence."
1. I will never give up so long as I know I am right.
2. I will believe that all things will work out for me if I hang on until the end.
3. I will be courageous and undismayed in the face of odds.
4. I will not permit anyone to intimidate me or deter me from my goals.
5. I will fight to overcome all physical handicaps and setbacks.
6. I will try again and again and yet again to accomplish what I desire.
7. I will take new faith and resolution from the knowledge that all successful men and women had to fight defeat and adversity.
8. I will never surrender to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming obstacles may confront me.

Through positive thinking, patience, and persistence, Dewitt and Lila Bell brought their dream to reality when they produced the first issue of the Readers' Digest. We need those same qualities to attain the life Jesus Christ said He came to give us, and that is life abundantly. That includes surviving, victoriously, times of discouragement. He stands ready today to give you abundance and fulness of life -- and eternal life on top of it. In order to be positive, patient and persistent we must have faith. We must learn to trust Him for our good and bad times, and to obey His word in all times. Do you want to overcome? Do you want to experience real life? Do you want to know victory? Then here's the formula: be positive, be patient, be persistent in trusting and obeying! That's the way to defeat discouragement and that's the way to life!

Readers' digest story from "Stories For The Heart" compiled by Alice Gray, Multnomah books, Sisters, Oregon, 1996.