Judges 1:21
And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
One of the hardest things you will find to continue in life is keeping your drive alive throughout your life. As I write this devotional, I am approaching my fourth decade of preaching God’s Word. I have been soul winning for nearly five decades, and have been in full-time ministry for thirty-three years. I can honestly say that my drive to do something great for God is more today than it has ever been, but it has not been easy to keep the drive alive. Battles, struggles, personal trials, and loss of physical energy because of age have all tried to take the drive away, but the drive inside to see God do something mightier is greater than ever before. It is that drive that keeps me going when I am weary. It is that drive that keeps pushing me when fighting battles. It is that drive that keeps pressure on me to push when the trials and pressures of life are great. I know one thing; if I lose my drive, I die.
One of the greatest tragedies that I read about in the Scriptures is found when it says about the tribe of Benjamin, And the children of Benjamin did not drive…. Benjamin got tired of the battles, so they stopped driving. They got comfortable with what they had conquered, and they stopped driving. However, their pause in the drive led to compromise and demise. Several things happen when you don't keep the drive alive.
First, you stop living by faith. When you no longer have a vision of faith is when you no longer drive yourself to see faith’s vision come to reality. You will not live by faith and please God when you lose the drive to attempt something great by faith. Every person needs to start something new by faith if they want to keep the drive alive.
Second, you lose the miracles of God. Christianity becomes monotonous and an annoyance to your life when the miracles stop. The miracles are what keeps your walk with Christ exciting. The miracles help you continue to live by faith, but when you lose your drive, you stop living by faith and lose the miracles you once enjoyed.
Third, you start compromising what you believe. When the miracles of God stop in your life, you must compromise to justify it. When the miracles of God stop, you want to blame the old paths as being out of touch, and you look for new ways through compromise to find excitement and growth. You are living on dangerous ground when the miracles stop in your life because it is then that you look to compromise to find excitement in life.
Fourth, you start living like the world. Worldliness seems spiritual and acceptable whenever you accept compromise. Worldliness will always seem easier than serving God by faith, and you will find yourself criticizing those who attempt great things by faith; however, you never see that worldliness ends in heartache. Nobody has gone to worldliness without experiencing heartache and sorrow.
My friend, the answer to keeping the drive alive is to keep your vision of faith alive. You cannot look at what you have, but you must look at how much more God can do through you to keep the drive alive. No, it won’t be easy to keep the drive alive, but the fight to keep it alive is worth it when the miracles of God continue in your life.
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