Jack was riding with the elderly couple he was working for when the storm hit. It was one of those old fashioned Colorado blizzards that just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. It was sometime around the year 1950. There were no cell phones to issue weather alerts so they were caught off guard. They were still a mile or two from their farm house when the blinding snow permitted them to go no further. With Jack being somewhere in his late teens, he was the only one able enough to go back to the house to fetch the tractor that could get them towed home.

Jack started the long walk back and it was a struggle from the outset. He could barely see the road and would slip again and again into the bar ditch. Still he kept on going until finally, half-frozen and exhausted, he fell one more time into the ditch. He was disoriented from the blowing snow and so mind-numbed from the cold that he was ready to just remain lying there in that ditch and give up.

I heard him tell the story some 50 years after the event, and he revealed at that time what had kept him going, and what got him back up out of that ditch. He said he knew that if he just lay there, wallowing in that ever deepening snow, that he would die. But that wasn't the half of it because there were two people that he cared for who were counting on him to make it back. So he kept on getting back up and continued down that road until he got back to the house where the tractor was. And he did finally make it and was able to rescue the couple that he had left with the promise that he would come back for them.  

That's the way life is, is it not? There are storms that will slam into us from out of nowhere. Some of these storms will be so severe and seem so overwhelming that we are ready to thrown in the towel and give up. There will be moments when the effects of our sin and the sins of others are just too much for us to bear alone. At times like this we are often tempted to just give up on our service to God and take that seemingly easy ride down into the ditches that Satan has waiting for us.

But the point is that we cannot! We must not just lie there and wallow in our own miseries when hard times come because we will do we will be lost. What's more, there are people who are counting on us to help rescue them from the perils of this sometimes evil world. What will become of them, if we are not there? What will become of our children if we do not raise them up to serve the Lord? What will happen to our friends who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, if we are not there to bring it?

Jack went on to get married and he and his wife raised three beautiful daughters and a fine son. All got married in there time and had families as well. The family continues to expand and grow, and as it does, these good people are continually reaching out to others to help them along life's journey. What would have happened if Jack had just given up?

What will happen if you give up? 

Rescue those who are being taken away to death, hold back those who are stumbling toward the slaughter.

If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay man according to his work?

Proverbs 24:11-12, ESV

The good news is that we have One who is willing to help us through life's difficult times. God knows that you will have struggles and He is willing to help you through them if you will let Him. People are counting on us not to give up. God has placed each one of us in our own unique situation in order that we might rescue those who need help... and He will know if we fail them. The penalty for failure will be more than we can bear, but He does not want that for us. He will help us every step of the way, if we will only let Him. So, don't give up!

Who is counting on you?