War Stories About Not Giving Up the Fight: Battles of Shiloh and Waterloo
You and I live in a very complex world. Pressures from every direction. And at times we feel like we cannot take it any more. We just want to be rescued from our problems. We pray to be rescued. We get others to pray for our rescue. And if aren’t rescued it is just easier to just give up!
Two war stories. It was at the end of the first day of the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil war that the Union army had suffered some major setbacks. General Grant was met by his chief engineer whose name was James McPherson who said, General, things look bad. We have lost half of our artillery and a third of our infantry. Our line is broken and we are pushed back to the river. General Grant made no reply so McPherson asked him what he intended to do. He said what to do? Reform the lines and attack at daybreak. And they defeated the Confederate troops the next morning. Not so fortunate for those of us who live in the South. :)
But the point here is this ... No one is defeated until he gives up. When we give up we are really saying that we want God to quit working on us and through us. But if God is working through us, it may be hard, we may be weary but know this .. we cannot lose!
The Duke of Wellington returned to England after defeating Napoleon at Waterloo. He and his men were praised for their perseverance ... for their ability to stay at it until the battle was won. The Duke said the army of Napoleon were men of great courage. In my opinion, he said, my men had 5 minutes more courage and perseverance than Napoleon’s men. And that is what brought us victory. Just 5 more minutes of not quitting made the difference.
From a sermon by David Henderson, Extreme Makeover, 11/13/2009