Great Pilots Are Born in Rough Seas Kathryn Kuhlman Work Hard & Ask God For Help!

Today, I picked up a little red book that I'd had for years and years. And when I opened it, I found that in the back of it, I had written some things that I'm wondering now whether I fully understood what I was writing when I wrote. the words in this book when I was not more than 16, 17 years of age. I'm sure I could not have been more than 17 when I wrote these words in the back of this little book. I shall read them to you. Whether life grinds a man down or polishes him, depends on what he's made of. A diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. And the third quotation that I wrote in the back of this little book with these words. Great pilots. are made in rough waters and deep seas. When I closed the book an hour ago, I turned back the pages of my life. Years have come and years have gone since the day that I wrote those words. And I can bear witness the fact that every word that I wrote that day is true. I feel that I am the person that I am today because of those deep waters. the sunshine of my life, but the storms, the winds, the gales. And I'll say to you without fear of contradiction, it's true. When these things come into your life, it depends on what you're made of. Whether you're going to permit These things to defeat you or whether you're going to use them for the glory of God. Something will happen to you. You want to know something? One of the greatest secrets of this life is to know how to have real power in one's life. Power over one's difficulties. Because sooner or later, You're going to have difficulties. There will be trouble. There will be storms. The sun isn't going to shine forever in your life. As surely as there's sunshine, some rain must fall in every life. Perhaps not today. Perhaps those storms have not yet come. But if you are a part of humanity, they will come. The reaction of the individual, your reaction, my reaction to difficulty marks the kind of man that you are and the kind of person that I am. And it's just like that. Washington Irving once said, little minds are... tamed and subdued by misfortune. But great minds rise above it. And it's true. Little minds, little people, oh, I'm not talking about in stature. Little minds, little people are tamed and subdued, defeated. by misfortune. But great minds, great hearts, great faith, great people, big people, rise above it. There was one man who had a great influence in my father's life. I can truthfully say that Dr. Downing, a Baptist missionary, was the only preacher that I... can think of who ever had any real religious influence in my papa's life. And Dr. Downing used to say, the storms bring out the eagles, but the little birds take the cover. Uh -huh. Old papa used to like that. The storms. Bring out the eagles. But it's the little birds who take the cover. I guess that's one reason why I never wanted to be a little bird. You know, some of these things make a profound impression on a youngster's life. Oh, sure. Ah, I've never forgotten his words. I have never forgotten these things. I've never forgotten the great influence that Dr. Downing had on Papa's life. And the great influence that he had on my Papa's life carried over to Papa's daughter. And I never wanted to be one of the little birds who rushed to cover as soon as the lightning began to strike and you heard the thunder and the storms. began in one's life, no. Troubles, you know, are the best test to a person's character that I know anything about. There's some folks that you think you know very well. You are sure you know all about them. You are definitely sure that you could trust them under any and all circumstances. And you say to someone in confidence, I know all about her. I know her perhaps better than she knows herself. And yet, you come to find out that you really do not know that person until troubles come into that life. And troubles are the best test to a person's real character. that I know anything about. When you see how a person reacts to troubles, when you see how a person reacts to disappointments, some will pout. Some that you thought were so big and so strong, you admired so much, you'll find that suddenly they become a very small person. They almost shrivel up before your very eyes. You're disappointed. Oh, it's easy to smile. As long as the sun is shining. It's easy to sing when the paycheck is coming in. It's easy to be happy when everything is going your way. It's easy to be a big person. To be a lovely creature. When everything's going your way, how will that same person react when the paycheck isn't coming in? When the waters are deep. When there's an open casket. When a loved one has been taken. When they do not get their own way. How will they react under those circumstances? And it's just like that. Do you want to know something? One of the mistaken ideas of this present generation is that Difficulties are something bad. Something unsocial. We're not supposed to have difficulties. We're supposed to close our eyes and our minds to difficulties. You talk about difficulties these days. And we've gotten to the place that we do not want to face facts. That difficulties are something that are unsocial. That the government should take care of everybody, feed everybody, get jobs for everybody, keep everybody. If you don't want to work, you don't have to work. If you'd rather stay home than work, then stay home. Just do what you want. to do. Now remember something, don't get me wrong. I believe in helping the unfortunate. You know that I do. Don't you dare misconstrue anything that I say in this heart -to -heart talk today. I believe in helping the unfortunate. But the take -care -of -everybody philosophy is of doubtful value. We are making a lot of lazy people out of a lot of Americans who should be busy five days a week. I was taught to work. Work was the best cure for a man's sicknesses and ills and disappointments that there was in the world. I'll tell you, when I was a kid, and that's been a long time ago, we didn't have aspirin. We didn't have Sedrin. We didn't have all these different kinds of pills. Dear old Dr. Schreiman didn't know what all these pills and all these pills that we have today. He didn't know anything about them. In Concordia, Missouri. And Concordia was mostly made up of German Lutheran people. If you got up in the morning and you didn't feel good, do you want to know what we folk did back in Concordia, Missouri? We were taught that the worse that you felt, the harder you worked that day. Get to work. Get to work fast. Papa used to say, well, work it off, honey. Just work it off. And Mama used to say, that's all right, honey. You just take the scrub brush and you start scrubbing the sidewalks. It won't be long. You'll feel better. Well, even the thoughts of that scrub brush cured me so fast it wasn't even funny. Isn't it like that? Yeah? One of the greatest things in the world is self -reliance. The ability to turn difficulties to advantage. When one has lost his self -reliance, has lost his confidence in himself, he has automatically hoisted the white flag of surrender to defeat. Don't do it. Don't. Don't you ever in your life ever hoist the white flag of defeat. Don't you do it. You grab the old scrub brush and you start scrubbing. You start grabbing the old spade and you start spading. You get hold of that pan of dirty dishes and you start washing. And it's just like that. Don't ever hoist that white flag of defeat or anything in the world. Keep fighting. Keep fighting. Whether life grinds a man down or polishes him depends on what he's made of. Men and women need difficulties to teach them to survive. I stress this point because many have the idea that there's something wrong with struggle. That there's something old -fashioned about hard work. Something antisocial about effort. Something wrong with enterprise. I don't know what has happened to this generation. I tell you frankly, it's something that's in the atmosphere. Literally, we've gotten to the place where this generation feels like there's something wrong with struggle. There's something wrong with hard work. There's something wrong with you. If you work hard, 8, 9, 10, 12 hours a day, they look at you and you think that you're of another generation. That literally you're a little off on your rocker when you say that you work 14 hours a day. Under their breath, they say, he's nuts. It's a little crazy. The other day, I was studying a picture that I saw of Abraham Lincoln, and I stood wondering to myself why Lincoln was born. To save the Union? To do away with slavery? Certainly. Yes, this man's life, in my opinion, was the greatest life ever lived in the United States of America. Perhaps the greatest reason that he was set among us was to show Americans through all history that they can rise above all... difficulties and make men of themselves by trusting God. You don't have to be defeated. You don't have to go down and defeat. You were born for a purpose. You have a work to do. The word of God says unto every man his work. Why were you born? Why were you put into this world? There's a reason. The American people must never get to the point where they are unwilling to go out and wrestle with life. Don't you as an individual ever get to the point whether you are a teenager whether you are in your 20s, your 30s. You may even be at the age where they have put you on the retired list. But don't you ever, whatever age you are, get to the place where you are unwilling to go out and wrestle with life. Look old difficulty right in the face. Walk up to it and say, I'm glad to see you. I'm glad to see you. And then add, God sent you to make a stronger person out of me. God sent you to make a stronger, a better person out of me right now. Stop. Pray for a proper philosophy of difficulty. If you're suffering pain, if you're in difficulty, if you haven't enough money, if the job is gone, or maybe you don't even have a job, get down on your knees. and ask God Almighty to help you. But don't you dare raise the white flag of defeat. Don't you do it. No man, no woman, no person needs ever go down in defeat unless he consents to that defeat. I can turn back the pages in my life. And there's certain milestones I can put my finger on them. I know exactly the day, the hour when I could have gone down in defeat. I know the places. I know the times. I know the cities. I know the happenings. I know the crisis in my life. When I could have put up that white flag of defeat. I could have gone down and have been defeated by my own self -pity. I've gone through the storms as the reason I can talk to you the way I am talking to you this hour. I know what I'm talking about. I wouldn't be where I am this very hour had it not been for the disappointments, had it not been for the storms. But I'd made up my mind I wasn't going to be one of those little birds that ran for shelter the first time the wind started to blow. I could not have done it myself. But when I made the effort, God was there to help me. And when you pray, you get power. Because you get into a stream of power, his power. And I assure you that there is a stream of power flowing across this universe. And as you make contact with it, God's wonderful power, he'll give you the victory, he'll give you the healing. You can feel it, you can know it. It has a great lifting force. All that you have to do is yield yourself to God. Ask Him to take care of you. Ask Him to take care of those things in your life that are bigger than you. And you'll soon find yourself being lifted above all obstacles, all storms, all difficulties. I realize that many people may not... have had much contact with the dynamic concept of the Christian faith. I wish you would try to understand because your very life may depend on this. If you'll start to pray, if you'll start to read the Bible, if you'll start to yield yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, I tell you as surely as there's a God on his throne. that the most incredible, astounding things will happen to you. You'll gain amazing victories over obstacles in a way that you never dreamed possible. And remember, whether life grinds a man down or polishes him, depends on what he is made of.