With determination and God’s help you’ll win

In her autobiography, singer Dolly Parton wrote, “My high school was small, so during graduation each of us got a chance to stand up and announce our plans for the future. ‘I’m going to junior college,’ one boy would say. ‘I’m getting married and moving to Maryville,’ a girl would follow. When my turn came I said, ‘I’m going to Nashville to become a star.’ The entire place erupted in laughter. I was stunned. Somehow, though, that laughter instilled in me an even greater determination to realize my dream. I might have crumbled under the weight of the hardships that were to come had it not been for the response of the crowd that day. Sometimes it’s funny the way we find inspiration.” Every hero in Scripture, without exception, overcame obstacles and opposition. David wrote, “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me” (Psalm 18:18-19, 29-30, 32, 39 NKJV).