A man stopped to watch a Little League baseball game. He asked one of the youngsters what the score was.
“We're losing 18-0,” was the answer.
“Well,” said the man. “I must say you don't look discouraged.”
“Discouraged?” the boy said, puzzled. “Why should we be discouraged? We haven't come to bat yet” (Stan Toler, God Has Never Failed Me, but He's Sure Scared Me to Death a Few Times, Honor Books, 1995; www.PreachingToday.com).
I like that boy’s attitude. He refuses to get discouraged no matter how bad it gets.
Sometimes, life gets hard and gets you down. You may feel like quitting, so how do you keep going in those times? How do you keep discouragement at bay and complete the work God has called you to do?
That was the issue facing 50,000 Jews who had just returned home after 70 years in exile to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Everything was in ruins. They faced opposition from the surrounding nations more powerful than they, and they nearly gave up, stopping the work for 16 years.
That’s when God sent the prophet Zechariah to encourage His people. He did not see a weak nation in a ruined city. He looked down the centuries and saw the [glorious] future of the city and the coming of Jerusalem’s King, the Messiah (Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament).
It’s the perspective you need when you feel weak and want to give up. So, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to the next to the last book in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah, the book of Zechariah, whose perspective not only encouraged the ancient Jews. It still encourages God’s people today.
Zechariah 1:1-6 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, “The LORD was very angry with your fathers. Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? So they repented and said, ‘As the LORD of hosts purposed to deal with us for our ways and deeds, so has he dealt with us’” (ESV).
Zechariah encourages these ancient Jews to reject the ways of their ancestors, who refused to repent. As result, God’s threats of judgment chased down the evildoers and caught them. Instead, Zechariah urges his readers to return to the Lord, which they did! They came back to the God their ancestors rejected.
As a result, God promises to return to them. Verse 3: “Return to me,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you.”
So, what does God’s return look like? Well, in the first 6 chapters, Zechariah describes God’s return with 8 night visions, or 8 dreams, about Jerusalem’s future. So, let’s dip into three of those dreams just to catch a glimpse of the future for those who repent and return to the Lord. The first one we’ll look at is in Zechariah 2.
Zechariah 2:1-5 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst’” (ESV).
Zechariah sees a day when God will protect Jerusalem Himself and fill the city with people and with His own glory.
Zechariah 2:6-13 Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.” Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling (ESV).
God calls the rest of the exiles to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem, where He will dwell, because Jerusalem’s future will be glorious. That’s just one of Zechariah’s night visions. The second one we’ll look at is in Zechariah 4.
Zechariah 4:1-7 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (ESV)
In the power of God’s Holy Spirit, Zerubbabel will overcome the mountain of ruin and rebuild the temple.
Zechariah 4:8-10a Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel (ESV).
Even though people might despise the small start with the temple’s foundation, they will rejoice at the progress Zerubbabel makes.
Madaleine L’Engle once said, “Perhaps what we are called to do may not seem like much. But consider what one scientist has called ‘the butterfly effect’: even a butterfly moving its wings has an effect on galaxies thousands of light-years away (Madeleine L'Engle, “A Stone for a Pillow,” Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 9; www.PreachingToday.com).
So don’t despise small beginnings. They can lead to big endings.
Zechariah 4:10b These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth (ESV).
The lampstand with its seven lamps represents the eyes of the Lord. Now, seven is the number of perfection in the Bible, so the seven lamps signify the perfect insight God has as He inspects the whole earth. He knows and understands the threats against Jerusalem, and He will take care of His people. My dear friends, God also knows what’s going on in your world. So don’t be afraid. He will take care of you, as well.
Zechariahs 4:11-14 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (ESV).
The two anointed ones are Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest (1:1). They typify the Messiah, who is both priest and king (Hebrews 7:1-3) in His service for the Lord. Again, this vision points to Jerusalem’s glorious future when Messiah will reign on this earth as king, having offered Himself, as priest, for our sin.
Now, we’ve looked at two of Zechariah’s night visions. Let’s look at one more.
Zechariah 5:5-11 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base” (ESV).
God will remove wickedness from the Promised land and send her back to Babylon in the land of Shinar (Genesis 10:10). Now, from the days of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), Babylon, the city of man, has always opposed God and His city, Jerusalem. Babylon ransacked Jerusalem in 605 B.C., but God used the Medo-Persian empire to ransack Babylon in 539 B.C. During the Great Tribulation yet to come, Babylon (in current day Iraq) will rise again in opposition to God’s people. Revelation 17 says, Babylon will be “drunk with the blood of the saints” (Revelation 17:6), but Revelation 18 says God will ultimately and finally “throw the city down with violence,” and it “will be found no more” (Revelation 18:21).
Zechariah’s visions all reveal basically the same thing—Jerusalem’s future will be glorious as God removes her sin and destroys her enemies. Now, as those 50,000 exiles came back to see their home in ruins, Zechariah encouraged them with a vision of their glorious future, and such a vision will encourage you, as well. So, in the midst of the ruins of your life, don’t look around at the circumstances…
LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR GLORIOUS FUTURE.
Anticipate the glory ahead as God removes your sin and restores your life. Wait with expectation for the good things God has planned for all who put their trust in His Son, Jesus, the Messiah.
Romans 8 says, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son… And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).
As a believer in Christ, your future glory is as good as done! That’s why the Bible describes it in the past tense. So look forward to the glory ahead as God works with the ruins of your life to create something good.
Sean Connery has played many memorable roles in the movies. He’s a great actor. That’s why the director for the Lord of the Rings movies, Peter Jackson, wanted Connery to play the role of Gandalf.
Connery was his first choice for the role, which would have required the actor travel to New Zealand to portray the wizard. The producers of the fantasy series were so desperate to get Connery on board that they offered him $30 million, plus 15 percent of the box-office take (which would have been an additional $447 million). Yet, the former James Bond still refused, and Ian McKellen went on to become Gandalf.
Years later, Connery admitted that he simply didn't understand The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He said, “I read the book. I read the script. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it” (Jack Shepherd, “Here's why Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings,” Games Radar, 11-5-20; www.Preaching Today.com).
There are many times we don’t understand the script God has written for us. Sometimes, our life story seems headed for disaster. That’s when you need to trust the Author, because it ends well for every believer! So, when life gets hard and gets you down, look forward to your glorious future. Then…
LOOK WITHIN AT YOUR OWN HEART.
Examine your motives even for the good things you do, and quit the show of religious activity. Instead, shine with genuine love for your neighbor.
Zechariah 7:1-3 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” (ESV)
After the Babylonians captured the Jews and ransacked Jerusalem, the Jewish people instituted a fasting ritual to mourn their loss. Now that some of the Jews have returned home, they wonder if they should continue their fasting ritual. So God answers their question by reminding them of what He said long before the Jews went into exile.
Zechariah 7:8-14 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate” (ESV).
God sent them into exile because they had refused to show kindness and mercy to each other. They oppressed the widows, the orphans, and the immigrants. Even though outwardly they performed their religious rituals, inwardly, their hearts were “diamond-hard” in rebellion against God. That’s why God sent them into exile, but now that they have returned to the Lord, God has returned to them.
Zechariah 8:1-8 And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. Thus says the LORD: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts? Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness” (ESV).
There is a bright future ahead for the returned exiles in Jerusalem!
Zechariah 8:14-17 For thus says the LORD of hosts: “As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to bring good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD” (ESV).
God tells the returned exiles to “fear not.” Rather, they should act with integrity towards each other and not focus on the religious ritual of fasting.
Zechariah 8:18-19 And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace (ESV).
God will turn their fast days into feast days. Therefore, instead of doing the ritual, they should devote themselves to truth and peace. Now, that’s good advice for God’s people in any age, then and now! Quit the show of religious activity, and shine with genuine love for one another.
Several years ago (2019), Sherrif’s deputy, Daniel Wilkey, stopped Shandle Riley late at night for a traffic infraction in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He also found marijuana in her possession, but he told her that she wouldn’t go to jail if she agreed to be baptized.
So they drove to nearby Lake Soddy, where Wilkey baptized Riley, who remained fully clothed as she was submerged in the water. Another deputy, Jacob Goforth, witnessed the event and recorded the baptism on his phone.
Riley later filed suit against Officers Wilkey and Goforth. During her deposition, Riley said of the baptism, “It had nothing to do with God ... or being a good person.” Rather, “it had something to do with power and control.”
Three years later (in April 2022), Riley died from an accidental drug overdose (Bob Smietana, “Tennessee woman baptized by sheriff’s deputy after traffic stop,” Religion News, 4-14-2022; www.PreachingToday.com).
You see, religious ritual is powerless to change anybody for the better. I suppose Wilkey thought baptism would cleanse Riley from her harmful addiction, but it only got him into trouble and led her to die from her addiction. No! For a real change in your life, you need to change your “diamond hard” heart, and only God can do that for you.
God says to those who depend on Him, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Please, trust Christ with your life and let Him soften your heard heart, so you will stop rebelling and start revering God’s ways. Please, let God soften your heart not only towards Him, but also towards those in need. For when you focus on the needs of others, it helps to take the focus off your own needs and reduces your anxiety.
So, when life gets hard and gets you down, 1st, Look forward to your glorious future. 2nd, Look inward to your own heart. And 3rd…
LOOK UP FOR MESSIAH’S COMING.
Wait with expectancy for your Savior and King. Long for the appearing of your Redeemer and Sovereign Lord.
That was Zechariah’s message to the returned exiles in the last six chapters of his book, and it’s his message to any of God’s people, who are overwhelmed by life’s circumstances: You have returned to the Lord, so He will return to you, literally! He will come to this earth to rescue His people and rule the world.
Now, Zechariah saw the Lord’s coming as one event yet future. But we know from the New Testament that our Lord’s coming is in two stages—1st, He came to save His people from their sins. Then, He’s coming again to rule and reign as King!
First, the Lord came to save His people from their sins. That’s Zechariah’s focus in chapters 9-11. Take a look.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (ESV).
Zechariah saw Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem to humbly present Himself as Israel’s king, but they rejected Him. Skip over to Zechariah 11.
Zechariah 11:7-11 So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the LORD (ESV).
The Lord came the first time to be their Shepherd. He wanted to favor and unite the nation, but the nation’s leaders detested Him. So He took His wages and left them desolate and divided.
Zechariah 11:12-14 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel (ESV).
550 years later, Judas sold Jesus out to the religious leaders for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). They then captured and crucified our Lord, after which Judas threw the money at their feet in the temple (Matt. 27:3-5). The religious leaders took that money and purchased a potter’s field (Matthew 27:6-8) in which Judas hung himself (Acts 1:16-19). The Lord came the first time to save and shepherd His people, but they rejected Him.
The Gospel of John says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).
His own people, the Jews, rejected their Messiah in the 1st Century, but you don’t have to reject Him today. Please, welcome Him into your life. Receive Him and enjoy the benefits of being God’s child. Don ‘t be like those 1st Century Jews, who rejected their Messiah because He didn’t come like they expected as a conquering King. He came humbly on a donkey to save them from their sins.
In 1996 two military strategists, Harlan Uliman and James Wade, started advocating a more focused approach to war. Uliman and Wade argued for engaging the enemy with an overwhelming show of force that will destroy “the adversary's will to resist before, during, and after battle.” They called their strategy Shock and Awe.
Shortly before the first Iraq War, Uliman described what would happen with this Shock and Awe approach: “You're sitting in Baghdad and all of a sudden you're the general and 30 of your division headquarters have been wiped out. You also take the city down. By that I mean you get rid of their power, water. In 2,3,4,5 days they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted.”
Now, in response to human sin and evil, God could have used Shock and Awe to crush us with his “overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force.” Instead, the God of all authority and power, chose a radically different strategy: redemptive love, being delivered into the hands of sinners and then laying down his life at the cross (Brian Blount, Invasion of the Dead, Westminster John Knox Press, 2014, pages 90-91; www.PreachingToday.com).
Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for your sin, so God could bless you instead of punish you. Please, don’t reject Him like those 1st Century Jews. Receive Him into your life and experience God’s blessings forever! That’s why He came the first time—to save His people from their sins.
Now, He’s coming again with “shock and awe” to rule the world! That’s Zechariah’s focus in chapters 12-14. Take a look.
Zechariah 12:1-5 The oracle of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it. On that day, declares the LORD, I will strike every horse with panic, and its rider with madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the LORD of hosts, their God’ (ESV).
The nations of the world will gather in war against Judah, but the Lord will come and strike them with panic, madness, and blindness, causing the Jews to give glory to God.
Zechariah 12:9 And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem (ESV).
That is the “Battle of Armageddon” during which Revelation 19 says Jesus, at His second coming, will “strike down the nations” and “rule them with a rod of iron.” Then, the Jews will regret that they rejected their Messiah at His first coming.
Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn (ESV).
Even though God’s ancient people rejected Him, He will not reject them forever. When Jesus comes again, they will look on Him whom they have pierced, they will repent of their grievous sin, and “all Israel will be saved,” Romans 11:26 says.
In Zechariah 13:9, God says, “They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people;’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
Zechariah 14:3-4 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward (ESV).
When Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem, the mountain will split in two. Half of it will move north and half of it will move south, and a river will flow east and west out of that new valley.
Zechariah 14:8-9 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea (the Dead Sea) and half of them to the western sea (the Mediterranean Sea). It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.
Jesus came humbly the first time to die on a cross for our sins. He’ll come boldly the second time to conquer the nations and rule them with a rod of iron.
Zechariah 14:16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts (ESV).
Luke 21 says of that day, “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:25-28, NKJV).
Oh, my dear friends, when the world is falling apart, don’t look around at the circumstances; look up because your Redeemer is coming soon!
Long after the sun had set on the Boston Marathon 10 years ago (April 2015), long after the official clock turned off, and long after the crowds had all but gone home, 39-year-old Venezuelan, Maickel Melamed crossed the finish line around 4 A.M., 20 hours after the race began. That was quite a feat, since Maickel suffers from a disease similar to muscular dystrophy, which meant he didn't so much run the race as walk it.
As he reflected on his accomplishment, Maickel said, “In any marathon, you have to know why you're doing it. Because in the last mile, the marathon will ask you.” Maickel's himself ran the marathon to honor Boston Children's Hospital where he was treated as a child (Evan Allen, "Marathon provides a lesson: Inspiring guys can finish last" Boston Globe, 4-22-15; www.PreachingToday.com).
When life gets hard, you need to know why (or better, for whom) you are running the “marathon.” In those times, look to Christ. Look forward to the glorious future He has planned for you. Look within at the changes He is making to your heart. And look up because He is coming soon!
