09262026 Don't Quit on a Bad Day

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our sustaining God. His grace and strength are enough for us for as long as we need them.

I was recently reading some thoughts for hikers on the Appalachian Trail. One person gave this counsel: “Don’t quit on a bad day.” This advice recognizes several factors. In such an ambitious undertaking, there will be bad days. Rain, wind, storms, cold, heat, mud, mountains, rocks, sore muscles, filth, loneliness, hunger, mice, mosquitos, etc. When those challenges get too harsh, there will be the desire to quit. But those bad days are not every day; things will turn around, and there will be good days again. Sometimes you have to push through the bad days to get back to better days. I think the application behind this advice is that a hiker would not want to look back in regret, realizing that he had allowed the difficulties of the Trail at a particular moment to defeat him. Throwing away the experience because one bad day was just too bad. There are enough bad days that if someone threatened to quit on every one of them, there wouldn’t be much commitment or endurance. In fact, the person giving the advice wasn’t saying never to quit. Someone three weeks into the hike might decide it isn’t for him, but he should quit because of well-thought reasons and facts, not in the heat of negative emotions. Some people would say, “If you’re going to go out, go out on top.” End on a good note and on your terms, not because you’re defeated.

Doing a major hike like the Appalachian Trail is not a perfect parallel for Christian service, so the applications are not identical. I share the above because it prompted my thoughts, not because it is great Christian doctrine. But the above piece of advice reminded me of another quotation I had seen recently, one that is more spiritual in nature. I didn’t see the name of an author, but the quote stated, “You have too much evidence of God’s faithfulness to let one difficult season make you doubt His promises.”

We humans tend to have short memories. It’s amazing how quickly and how completely we can forget the times of victory, and suddenly we find ourselves in the doldrums. (Right, Elijah?) This is why God kept encouraging the Israelites to set up memorial stones, visible reminders of God’s power, provision, and deliverance. The author of the above quote is correct; we have lots of evidence of God’s goodness. We just have to remember it and continue to trust in the God who has shown it so often.

Speaking of showing it often, we have this verse. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Many times I have heard preachers say these are the saints in heaven watching us, but once I heard a preacher explain it differently, and it made a lot of sense. He suggested that the witnesses are not witnesses OF us, but witnesses TO us. A witness tells what he has seen and experienced, providing evidence. That’s what Hebrews 11 provides – a list of witness after witness of how faith in God was rewarded. Through Abel, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and the others, we are presented with an abundance of evidence by a great cloud of witnesses. By their testimony, they encourage us to press on with endurance.

We press on because God does accomplish His work. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

We press on because we have the best example ever to inspire us. “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3). “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

We press on because there are better and brighter days ahead. “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:13-14). “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Peter 5:10).

I always feel a little uneasy writing a message on dark subjects like quitting, because I do not want to be misunderstood or cause offense. I don’t want someone to think that I think you’re all out there on the verge of quitting. I don’t think that! I think you are faithful and dedicated servants determined to serve God.

But I also know there are bad days and difficult seasons. I know that when the nights get cold, the mud gets thick, and the mountains get steep, it is easy to get discouraged. We have battles in our minds. We may be very determined not to quit, but that doesn’t mean the thoughts don’t sometimes come. Often the discouragement is temporary, but when it comes, we need truth to speak to ourselves, truth that will encourage us to continue hiking and to press forward. It is my desire to share that truth so that God can use it in the situations where it is needed and to the extent that it is needed. So I pray that you will keep moving faithfully forward with a good heart, knowing that what you do today matters for eternity.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

09192026 God Cares

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who cares for you. Yes, our mighty God oversees the vast diorama of the entire creation, but He also cares for you individually.

God cares about every practical need. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say … Give us day by day our daily bread” (Luke 11:2). God showed this care practically in the life of Elijah when He fed him by the book Cherith, in the widow’s household, and in the wilderness.

God cares about every weakness of your body. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). When Elijah was exhausted and discouraged, God gave him special provision so that “he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights” (1 Kings 19:8).

God cares about every insecurity. “Only be thou strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7), one of three such reassurances in the space of four verses. “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:13). When Moses was insecure about leading Israel, God reassured him with miraculous signs, and God humored Gideon’s fearful request for reassurance not once, but twice, and even three times.

God cares about every burden of your heart. “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation … the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:4). When Hannah’s heart was broken over her barrenness and the resulting insults, God comforted her with a priestly message and with children.

God cares about every aspect of your ministry. “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak” (Matthew 10:19). “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). God repeatedly directed and guided Paul, opening doors and closing doors, as well as giving him audiences with both common men and great rulers.

Whatever it is, God knows and He cares. It is a comfort to know that His care is never empty. He is fully able to meet every kind of need out of His abundant resources and out of the richness of His loving heart. Whatever your need, tell Him, and then rest in His care. God bless.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

09122026 All Grace

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God of all grace. By His grace God supports us and enables us.

Last week I talked about how God often works by asking us to do small things – tiny steps of obedience that He transforms into great works. While that is true, it is also true that God sometimes asks us to do things that are bigger and more difficult.

Those big things can seem daunting to us. In fact, even enough little things can seem daunting, especially when we have to keep doing them over and over again or when we have too many of them. There are times when our bodies become weary. There are times when our emotions become stretched. There are times when our minds no longer want to think. There are times when we simply run out of time. We feel like we cannot do one more thing, or cannot do that task one more time. Ministry can be very draining.

Certainly there are times when it is appropriate to rest. God invented rest. My childhood pastor used to say that sometimes we need to “come apart” before we come apart! Jesus Himself knew the need for retreats.

At other times we need to push on even though we are weary. For such times, here is a verse that I can barely wrap my mind around. There are so many superlatives packed into it that comprehending it seems almost like trying to understand eternity or the Trinity.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

ALL grace … and it ABOUNDS. We can ALWAYS have ALL sufficiency for ALL things, and we can ABOUND to EVERY good work. So what do you think? Is there anything that God wants us to do that we can’t do?

It sure seems that way sometimes. We are weak and frail and limited. Without God we can do nothing. But with Him we can do all things. The key is His grace. Oh, how much we need His abundant grace!

How do we get the grace we need for the tasks that we cannot do without it? “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). God gives grace to the humble. God gives grace when we come to Him, admitting that we can’t do it or be it, and asking for His help.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Oh, Father, I can’t do one more thing. One more day. One more person. One more time. I am too weary and too weak. Will You please give me Your grace so that I can do the next good work that You have put before me?

Oh, Father, will You bless my sisters who are serving You? Will You give them Your abundant grace to strengthen and enable them on the inside as well as on the outside, so that they can move forward in the work You have given them?

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA

09052026 Little Things

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the God who always has a plan. We don’t always know the details of that plan, but God does. God simply asks us to obey as He directs us; then He works out the plan.

Often what God gives us to do seems small and insignificant. We may not have any idea of the ramifications of our obedience. Here are a few Bible examples.

God said to Philip, “Walk over to that car.” A little thing for Philip. “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot” (Acts 8:29). Philip had to run a bit to get to the chariot, and God did the rest. Through overhearing what the Ethiopian eunuch was reading, Philip knew exactly what he needed to do. He answered the man’s questions, and God finished His work in the man’s heart, and through him, God spread the gospel to a new continent.

God said to Peter, “Wake up and go downstairs.” A small task for Peter. “Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them” (Acts 10:20). Peter had to take a walk, but when he got to Cornelius’s house and heard his questions, he knew just what to do. He shared the gospel, and God did the rest. Many people were saved, and God spread the gospel to the Gentiles.

How many other times did God similarly do great things through something simple He asked His people to do?

God told Moses, “Throw your rod on the ground.” (Exodus 4:3). God then worked a sign that gave Moses the courage to lead and the evidence of divine appointment so the people would follow. The end result was the magnificent exodus.

God told Joshua, “Take a walk around the city.” (Joshua 6:3). Then God miraculously tumbled the walls of Jericho and encouraged Israel for the conquest of the land.

Jesus told the blind man, “Wash your face.” (John 9:7). Through the man’s obedience, Jesus healed his blindness and thereby ignited a great confrontation for the truth before the Pharisees.

God told Saul, “Get up and go into the city.” (Acts 9:6). After Saul’s obedience, God converted this great sinner and turned him into a great missionary.

God often asks us to do something small, something simple. When we obey, He gives us further guidance, and He works out His great purposes. God accomplishes amazing things that we never could have foreseen.

“And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). “Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).

May God encourage you this week to keep doing the little, seemingly insignificant things that He asks you to do, and through your obedience, may He accomplish His great plans.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA