Here's another one. I told you these would be a bit practical. I'll get the spiritual one towards the end, because I know you just need this more than the other. Here's one; work hard. Oh! Work hard! That's a good one isn't it? A lot of people don't understand hard work. Proverbs 13, Verse 4, the soul of the lazy man desires - I've got all these desires and dreams but nothing's happening - but he has nothing. Why does he have nothing? He's too lazy. It requires work to get anywhere in life, hard work. Hard work. Proverbs 21:25, the desire of the lazy man kills him. He refuses to work. Notice this - a lazy person is someone who won't put in the effort. They won't put in the hard yards to develop their life, have the discipline, do the study, lose weight, gain strength, whatever they need. They just won't put in the hard yards. Now did God abandon them? No, God didn't abandon them. God still love them? God still loves them, God's just a bit disappointed. You could have done more - I mean you're better than that. I had much more for you, do a bit more, do a bit more. What you actually engage in is, faith without works is dead, so true faith, true trust in God, actually shows up by you doing something and usually, from my experience of years of ministry, it's a lot of hard work. Hard work, hard work.
Here's another one; persevere. Don't quit! Never quit! Don't quit. Hebrews 10:35 to 36 it says, don't let go your confidence, you have need of patience, that after you've run your race, and done the will of God, then you'll get the promises. So one of the things I've learned in life is, just don't be a quitter. Be a finisher. Whatever you start, finish it. The road to ruin is paved with people who never jump the hurdle of perseverance - just wouldn't quit. I think thank God for the grace I never quit. I got real close to it many, many times but just never quite did. Couldn't bring myself to quit. [Laughs] Couldn't quit do it. I wrote a resignation one time, but then God didn't answer it, so then I couldn't quit you know? God called me into ministry, and I resigned from it and said well there it is, you know, but it didn't do any good. I woke up the next day and I'm still there, still the Pastor, so He didn't listen at all. He knew I was capable of better things than that. See, don't quit.
Here's another thing, now this is another hurdle. Now I'm going to get a bit more personal now, so here's this. You need to resolve personal issues from your past. You must resolve issues in your life. Over the years, of all the things I have noticed that stumble people is, they get to a point of pain in their life, where there is some personal stuff to deal with, and they quit. Listen, I don't care how much pain it takes, or what it takes; if you've gone through abuse in your life, you've gone through some kind of issues in your life, unresolved pain and hurts and bitterness, they all have an impact and here's what they do. Bitterness will stop you building relationships where you trust, and as you'll see in a moment those are the kinds of things you need to succeed in your destiny. So bitterness will always keep you reserved, guarded, emotionally distant and safe in relationships. It defiles your relationships, in fact, so my observation over years - Lyn would bear witness to this as well, as well as would Joy - over many, many years we've watched many, many people and I can tell you this, that the most common reason they did not succeed in life was because, when God brought them to the point of facing a painful issue in their life, they actually ran from the pain, rather than face it. They ran from the pressure to resolve it, rather than actually come up with a plan, or get some help to deal with it, so you need to do it.
Now I'll give you an example. There's a woman - David's wife, Michal, is a classic example. She was destined to be a queen, destined to rule with David over a nation, and leave a legacy of children to the nation. Did she? Well she got to the queen bit, but did she leave a legacy? No. Bitterness stole away all her marriage joy and love, and she remained barren, queen but barren, there but no legacy. These are things to learn. They're in the Bible everywhere, but I'm just laying them out, because these are things I've observed with people.