Rely on God’s Strength

He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.  1 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NIV) 

Props: sturdy rope 

            Lots of people will start living for God; only the people that stay strong in God will last.  Sometimes, though, it’s hard to stay strong.  When you have lots of problems or people pressuring you to do the wrong thing, you might think, “I can’t stay strong enough to keep going.”  You know what?  You’re right.  You can’t stay strong enough.  No one is strong enough in his own power.  In times when you feel like giving up, learn a lesson from the mountain climbers. 

Probably none of you have ever climbed a mountain.  Some people climb mountains all the time.  They are experts: they know just how to use their hands to hold on to the rocks when the mountain gets steep, they know how and where to place their feet and they have built up strong muscles to help them climb all the way to the top.  The experts have also learned something else: they know the importance of using a safety rope.  They tie one end of the rope around their waist and the other end they anchor to the rocks high above them.  They know that they might come up on a tough area that even they can’t handle.  There might be problems too big for them.  The rope will save them if they run into such problems. 

            There will be times when you will have problems bigger than you can handle and you can’t keep going on your own.  You need to trust in God’s strength to keep you going.  Trust in Him and lean on His strength like the mountain climbers lean on their ropes.  Endurance is having the power to keep going no matter what.  Let God’s power keep you going, and you will endure.