You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. Hebrews 10:36

The other day I asked my eldest son to mow our grass. Our lawn mower had broken previously and the uncut grass was quite high. Well, high enough to where if I was my neighbor, I'd be talking about my own self!

Several times I peeked out the blinds to see how he was coming along. He was frustrated, angry and ready to call it quits and come inside. See, not only was the grass a foot high, it was also a little wet from raining the night before. So as he mowed, the grass would clump together under the mower and choke it, cutting it off. It really was hard work.

Two or three times he came in completely fed up and ready to quit. Each time I encouraged him to continue. 'Yes, it is hard work but you can do it' I told him. The last time he came in, it was a little bit more difficult. He had finally completed the front yard and needed to do the side. He had mosquito bites all over him and to make it worse, it had started to drizzle. The drizzle pushed him over the edge past unhappiness to downright mutiny! He was totally worn out and frustrated - and it showed.

I gave him a minute or two to rest and check his attitude before I approached him to finish the side yard. It was a small section and should not take to long. Again, I encouraged him to finish the job. He only had a little section left to go. Yes, it's a little rain, but most of the hard part was over. I thanked him, told him the front look good and then left. I wasn't sure he received the words of encouragement I was trying to give him, but he did. All I could hear him saying as he put his shoes back on and went through the door was "stupid lawnmower" and I smiled to myself. A chore that usually takes 35-45 minutes ended up taking an hour and a half to compete.

Why am I telling this story? Is there supposed to be a lesson here? Yes, it is. The Holy Spirit enlightened me through this lesson with my son on how we, in the body of Christ, can become discouraged when things get rough. How a few words of encouragement can take someone very far and help them to overcome and get through many trials.

There are going to be times in our lives when we are trying to accomplish something, and it is going to seem as though, it is so hard. Set backs pop up out of no where. You're going to feel like quitting; Just giving up. But then, someone comes and whispers a word of encouragement to you, "You're doing such a great job!" You hear a sermon on Sunday, or a song on the radio. It reminds you of what you are trying to accomplish and it encourages you to keep going.

Instead of the six months you thought it was going to take you to accomplish your goal, it took a year. Before, you had thoughts of abandoning "the whole stupid thing." Now, you can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your thoughts are now, "I'm almost finished!"

You must persevere. You must believe in yourself. You must surround yourself with others that will speak life into you. You must trust God.

Oh! I didn't mention the best part: At the end of my son's 'going through' I blessed him monetarily. I did not let him know I was going to give him any thing of value at the beginning. So he was doing the chore on obedience to me. And that is what God wants from you and to do for you. Your blessing is right around the corner. If you give up now, you won't receive it. And believe me, it is worth it!