41st Day

I watched a wonderful teaching video today. You may have heard this before, but even if you have, it's worth a revisit. The person speaking listed a number of events in the Bible that dealt with the number 40. Moses spending 40 years in the backside of the desert. Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Goliath taunting the army of Israel for 40 days. Jonah preaching in Nineveh for 40 days. Jesus going without food or water for 40 days in the wilderness. These are just a few of the examples of happenings around the number 40. What is the core significance in all of them? All of these events contain hardship, suffering, danger, impossibility. All of them went on for a lengthy time with no seeming change coming. More, all of the events had been directly or indirectly ordained by God. Those in the midst of it all had two choices; they could either press on, persevere, obey, and trust, or they could give up. Sometimes they knew that the Father had brought all of it about, at other times, these things had come upon them. Either way, their choice was the same. Either keep walking forward, even though it appeared they were going nowhere, all the while trusting and obeying, or simply stop, give up, and turn back, and this is where the teaching becomes so powerful and clear. No matter how many days, weeks, or years were involved in the number 40, in every case, there was also a number 41. For Moses, in the 41st year, God appeared to him and commissioned him to lead his people out of slavery. On the 41st day, David faced Goliath and slew him.On the 41st day of Jonah's preaching, Nineveh repented, and a mighty move of God swept the entire city. In the 41st year of Israel's wandering the wilderness, God brought them into the land He had promised them, and on the 41st day of His temptation, Jesus caused the devil to flee from Him.....and none of it would have happened if any of them had given up on the 41st day, week, month, or year. That's the lesson, encouragement, and promise for each of us. No matter how long our wilderness trial has been going on, despite the pain, the cost, the danger, press on. Don't give up. Your 41st day will come. He will not fail you. How many of us, when we stand before Him one day, will be shown those places where He had purposed to bring us glorious victory and the laying hold of cherished promises, but we never had them because we gave up on the 40th day? Hold on. He will not fail you. There is a 41st day for each of us....if we do not give up. Blessings, Pastor O