Published: Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013 / Updated: Friday, Feb. 08, 2013 01:55 PM
Graceline: Don’t chicken out; hang in there
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36
Harlan Sanders, better known as Col. Sanders, had many reasons to lose heart and give up. His father died when he was 5 years old. He quit school at 16, and by 17 he’d already lost four jobs. He was married at 18 and a father before he was 19.
When he was 20, his wife left him and took their baby daughter with her. Between the ages of 18 and 22, he failed as a railroad conductor, washed out of the Army, flopped as a farmer, was rejected from law school and bombed as an insurance salesman. He figured he was a pretty good cook, though, so he got a job as a cook and a dishwasher in a small cafe.
He eventually convinced his wife to return home, and together they worked in the cafe, cooking and washing dishes until he retired at age 65. On his first day of retirement, he went to the post office and picked up his first social security check for $105. He didn’t want the government to take care of him, so he contemplated suicide.
Nevertheless, he went to the bank in his hometown and borrowed $87 against his next social security check. With that $87 he bought some boxes and some chicken.
No one is exempt from the winds of adversity. All ships are battered. Sails are torn. But we do have hope. We have an anchor in the storm – Jesus Christ. He keeps our ship from being dashed against the rocks of hopelessness and despair.
God assures us trust and perseverance will secure His promises. Keep doing what you know is right even in the face of opposition. Never give up. Col. Sanders didn’t. He didn’t “chicken out,” and look what his chickens brought in.
The Lord has given you a great destiny, a nest egg if you will. Hang in there until it hatches.
Kenny Ashley is the leader of The Journey, which meets at 10:30 a.m. Sundays at Crowders Creek Elementary School.
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