21 September

Churchill towards the end of the speech he said, ‘Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.’

In today’s generation, our lives have become so instantaneous that anything requiring patient perseverance can appear unattractive. We require instant returns and instant results. But sometimes the biggest pay-offs are a long time coming.
Churchill did indeed say words to that effect, but as part of a longer speech. Towards the end of the speech he said, ‘Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.’

There are so many discouragements around. There are huge temptations to give up. When you sow a seed, you do not see the results immediately; it takes time. Sometimes, it’s only when we look back years later that we can see that the seed we have sown has finally borne a harvest. There are also many seeds sown about which we will know nothing until we see the harvest in heaven. One of the keys to staying positive is to keep an eternal perspective.