Keep Pressing Forward!

Isaiah 33:2 O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally, in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.

Do you have a fear of falling or failing? The Lord is always right there to be our net -- to catch us when we fall. He is our salvation in time of trouble and provides the perfect safety net in Messiah!

Spend the weekend resting in Him and His finished work completed 2000 years ago. Shabbat Shalom and continue to press on full steam ahead!

Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.

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Roger Babson, a famous statistician was having lunch with the President of Argentina, "Mr. Babson," the President said, "I have been wondering why it is that South America, with all its natural advantages, mines of iron, copper, coal and silver, rivers and great waterfalls is so far behind North America?" Babson replied, "Well, Mr. President, what do you think is the reason?" He answered, "..South America was founded by the Spanish who came in search of gold. North America was founded by the Pilgrims who went there in search of God."

As Chanukah, the feast of dedication, begins this evening, I’m often surprised how many people don’t realize that Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated Chanukah. In the gospel of John, it was during this winter feast that He was questioned as to whether He was the Messiah or not, and His amazing responses provoked His questioners to threaten to stone Him.

Today's word is not Hebrew or Greek, it's Inuit! The word is issumagijoujunnainermik. When missionaries first shared the gospel with the Inuit tribes in Alaska, they couldn't find any word in the Inuit language for forgiveness.  So, they took a number of Inuit words and joined them to form a new word -- Issu-magi-jou-jun-nai-ner-mik -- and it became the Inuit word for forgiveness. The individual words are "Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore."

True story! In 1940, a large and wonderful Christian family, the Rudolph's, announced the birth of their 20th baby! Though the baby was not expected to live, having been born prematurely and with polio, she defied all odds. She did live, but by the time she was four she had suffered polio, pneumonia and scarlet fever. This little girl was badly crippled with hardly any use of her left leg. While her brothers and sisters enjoyed running and playing outside, she was left confined to braces.

Near Eilat, in Southern Israel, there is a life-size replica of the tabernacle in the Negev desert, a couple hours from where we live. One particular year, as we visited and entered the Holy of Holies, the guide shared something I never heard before.

My wife used to teach Israeli dance workshops all over the world. And over the years, she has acquired a few interesting and rather funny stories of people, including herself, tripping and stumbling over each other during a class.

We've been in full-time ministry just over 20 years now, and boy, have we had our share of trials and tribulations!

Sometimes when we are in the midst of trials we start to wonder -- Lord, will it ever end? In case you haven't noticed, it doesn't. But the good news is that with each faith-testing experience, our ability to deal with these trials and tribulations becomes better and our faith grows stronger!