Week 52 Day 3

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God as a Last Resort

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Luke 17:10

My present triumphs, and my past,

Are thine, and must be to the last;

And if the crown of life I wear,

Thy hand alone must place it there.

Abraham Lincoln believed in the power of prayer. But he once admitted he didn’t always live up to his beliefs. “I sincerely wish I was a more devoted man than I am,” he told a congregation in Baltimore. “Sometimes in my difficulties I have been driven to the last resort to say God is still my only hope.” Lincoln regretted the times he didn’t go to God except as a last option. Like all of us, he’d live life on his own terms, trying to solve problems in his own wisdom and persevere in his own strength. Then, when times got tough and he couldn’t handle things on his own, he’d run back to God. That is something we all struggle with. When things are going well, our talks with the Lord diminish. We think we’ve got everything under control, so we stop spending time in prayer until we can’t carry on by ourselves. Let Lincoln’s regret be our encouragement.