When new both a gold plated object would look and feel the same as one made of solid gold. Wear and tear due to time will expose the difference. This is similar to our endurance and ability to stay on a job. When we are first assigned a job, we look at it in three ways: a little apprehensive if we could do a good job, confident that we will finish the job well, and over confident, so much so that we eventually end up doing a job below expectation. 

We all know the theory on the steps to complete an assignment. First we pray, then we set to aim for timely completion. Having started with enthusiasm, the next most difficult is the perseverance. This is similar to running a marathon race. Half way through, our legs feel tired, we are out of breath, our mind begins to wonder as to why in the first place we take such a challenge. The successful one would look at the finishing line. He may end up being the last to cross that line but he has the satisfaction that he has completed what he set out to do. He would be able to sleep better than if he had given up half way. In order to drive himself he might have imagined that his loved ones are waiting for him there to tell him what a great job he has done in completing the race. He would imagine the cameras clicking away. When the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith” he meant that he reached the finishing line. Does not this phrase seem all too familiar? Though it is good to have that verse given to encourage the family of one who has gone to the Lord, it is also a reminder that we all ought to fight on and not give up. 

In any case, we are not alone in the fight. God is always by our side to encourage and to give us strength. Again and again we read how the Israelites and Christians faced great obstacles ahead. There are always two views to the same picture. All those scouts sent to view the land of Canaan reported that the land was indeed good but it was not possible to take over that place. If you read Numbers chapter 13, you will notice this verse stands out among those who made the report. Numbers 13:33 “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” In other words, though Canaan was filled with milk and honey, occupying it would be impossible.  However, Joshua and Caleb had a different perspective. Numbers 14:7-9 “And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.” What is the difference? The first report is made from the angle of man but the report of Joshua is made from the angle of God. When you look from the bottom things appear big but when you look at things from the top, things appear small. In God’s eyes, nothing is big since all are created by Him. He looks at us (however big you may be) as grasshoppers. Isaiah 40:22 “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.” I wonder if you can identify who are the grasshoppers, the Jews in the eyes of “the giants” or “the giants” in the eyes of the Lord God. 

Be assured that whatever the task may be and however big it may appear in our eyes, God will help us to completion. There is only one condition; that is we are to fear them not (obstacles) but to look to the Lord. God has awards awaiting us to claim. Over and over we read that God’s people have fought a good fight and have finished the course and kept the faith. The issues that they encounter are not smaller than ours. When we take up challenges either as new session members or as members assigned with new tasks, let us shine in the end like objects made of solid gold.

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