By: Ted Camp, Silent Word Ministires

I have learned that a failure is not someone who fails but someone who quits. Everyone fails from time to time, but you are not a failure until you quit. Did you ride the bicycle the first time? No. You had to try again and again. At this time, you may be discouraged, but do not give up or quit.  “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

Can you become weary even in well doing or doing good? Weary means tired, fed-up, disgusted or discouraged. Can a Christian become weary while serving the Lord? Yes, there are times when you may not feel like going to church, reading your Bible or even praying.

What should you do when you are weary or discourage? You need to go to church as it could be the time God touches your heart. You need to read your Bible and as it could be the time the scriptures bless your heart. You need to pray because that could be the time God opens Heaven. Are you weary? If so, this is the time you need to get up, take a step, and keep going. This could be your reaping day.

Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. It was said that he failed a 1,000 times before he invented the light bulb. He replied, “I found 999 things that did not work.” Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teachers described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.”

What does it take to discourage you? Success is not determined by what it takes to start you but to stop you. When Winston Churchill spoke at a boy’s academy he simply said, “Young men never quit, never, never, never!” He received a standing ovation. I want to encourage you who are discouraged, “Christians never quit, never, never, never!” God promises you will reap if you faint not!

Ted Camp is director of Silent Word Ministries, a worldwide ministry to the deaf based in Trenton. E-mail him at TC@silentword.org to be added to the email list for weekly articles or phone (706) 657-8000.