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Felix Mendelssohn wrote the classic anthem, "A Still, Small Voice," that is sung so brilliantly and beautifully by our choir many Sunday mornings. Mendelssohn wrote it after reading from the 19th Chapter of I Kings. In this text, Elijah was depressed. He cried to God, "Take away my life!" Fearful of being killed by Jezebel, Elijah flees into hiding. Then, a message from the Lord comes to Him, but not in the manner he expected. The text reads:

"And God spoke to Elijah, Elijah, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountain and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but God was not in the wind; and after the wind, an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and then after the fire came a still, small voice."

Psychologists and psychiatrists have said that we all have a third ear that receives strong and quiet messages. And that is often how we hear God. God speaks to us in a still, small voice.

There is a God! And this God, more often than not, is seen not in the mighty wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in a still, small voice. And there is one thing that I have learned about God: God never quits on us! You may quit on God, I may quit on God, but God will never quit on us.

A few years back I wrote a book on prayer, Prayer: My Soul's Adventure with God. It is what I would call my spiritual autobiography. It is not a sermon; it's a testimony. In the book, I write about my first recollection of prayer. It was when I was only four years and eleven months old. I prayed, "Lord, make me a preacher when I grow up." And God took me seriously. As I grew, I embraced the necessary training: twelve years of primary schooling, four years of college, and three years of seminary. While in seminary, I received my second call from the Lord.

In that still, small voice I sensed God saying to me, "Schuller, find a place that's big enough to keep you busy all your life. Be prepared for a forty-year commitment. And then, just be content by staying in that church all of your life. Love the people. Give them Jesus Christ."

I didn't know if I had what it really took to pastor a church. I prayed that God would bring me to a place so small that I couldn't fail. Again, he took me seriously. When I came to California, I had only two members, my wife and I. Today, we send our message to many countries. And now, over fifty years later, I can testify to this: God never quit on me! He won't quit on you. And He doesn't want you to quit on Him.

When we began this television ministry, over three decades ago, I wrote one of my first works of inspiration: "The Possibility Thinker's Creed":

"When faced with a mountain, I will not quit! I will keep on striving until I climb over, Find a pass through, tunnel underneath, Or simply stay and turn that mountain Into a gold mine with God's help."

"When faced with a mountain, I will not quit!" I will make mistakes. Every human does. But, I will not be a quitter! I will not pack my bags and walk out the door. No! Instead, "I will keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath, or simply stay and turn the mountain into a gold mine with God's help." I'm going to trust Him. I am going to listen for His voice, not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in a still, small voice.

Now, years after writing that creed, I look back and think of the people I have watched, who have subjected their lives to that kind of faith. They refused to quit. They insisted on trusting God. What a wonder!

I will never forget the time when Walter Burke (who was President of McDonnell-Douglas at the time) called me and said, "Dr. Schuller, I just talked to President Kennedy. He called me and told me that they are going to put a man on the moon! He's told me to find a vehicle that will break loose from the Earth and make it possible. Dr. Schuller, I'm calling because I need a copy of that Possibility Thinker's Creed." Now, I had a few of the copies of the creed that had been printed onto posters. So, I rolled one up, put it into a tube, and took it to McDonnell Douglas. Walter hung it up in his office and it stayed there until Neil Armstrong took that first step.

I also recall when Hubert Humphrey called me and told me that he wanted to see me. He wanted a copy of The Possibility Thinker's Creed. I went to Washington. He came off the first floor of the Senate, sat next to me on a little bench, shook my hand, and then whispered to me that he had cancer. "When faced with a mountain, I will not quit!" God never quits on you. Don't you quit on Him.

I want to share with you, four specific areas where God will never quit on you: Salvation, Service, Spirit, and Song.

1. SALVATION - God Always Provides It:

First, each and every one of us needs salvation. What is salvation? Salvation is when you can say in your heart, "I know God. I know Him through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has saved me." I am often asked, "Dr. Schuller, do you believe in a Heaven and a Hell?" And I answer, "I believe in life on the other side. In my opinion, if there weren't some kind of a division it would sure be a mess. I wouldn't want Hitler for a roommate."

I'm saved and I know it. I know God through Jesus Christ. I know that I have both the privilege and the joy of knowing Him here, today, on Earth, and I will have even greater joy when I go to live with Him after I die. We all need salvation. If you feel you don't have the kind of relationship with God that I am talking about, all you need to do is simply ask.

Then, once we have salvation, it is something that we can never lose. God doesn't pick you up just to drop you! God hasn't just decided to rent you. He purchased you! He hasn't made a contract with you that will end on a specific date, He has made an eternal covenant!

Since I wrote the book, Prayer: My Soul's Adventure with God, a few years ago, I have been reminded over and over again that this is true. I have reexamined my prayer life over the course of eight decades and discovered something fascinating - that there is no life span on prayers. God isn't sitting in Heaven, recording what we pray with a date and a time next to it and then an expiration date written in small print beneath it. He doesn't wait until we've forgotten about our prayers, breathing a sigh of relief because He knows He's off the hook. God remembers our cries for help. In Psalm 56:8, it says that He holds our tears in a bottle. Our prayers are precious and valuable to God.

I remember praying for a woman who was going to have a baby. She was a little frightened. I told her, "Don't be afraid. Why, when you were in your mother's womb, your grandmother prayed for you! When you were in your mother's womb, your father prayed for you! Your mother prayed for you! All of those prayers have been accumulating in God's treasure box. He doesn't put them in a file that He later tosses in the trash. He has a special place where all of those prayers build and build, whispering your name in His listening ear. And He will respond. Just you wait and see. And those same prayers are being said for your little one. You don't have to worry about a thing.

God is not in the wind. He is not in the fire. He is not in the earthquake. He is in a still, small, voice. He never quits on us. Salvation - God always provides it.

2. SERVICE - God Always Gives It:

I have gone through life knowing that God is my friend and that I am saved. But that is not all that God has for me. And that is not all that God has for you. God has set aside a certain job for each of us that will take us from success to significance and give us self-esteem. I want to know that what I am doing is helping to create a better and more beautiful world. And God wants that too. He never is short of work to be done. There is always a fresh dream in my heart. Even today, I have some new dreams bubbling up. Service - God always gives it.

3. SPIRIT - God Always Strengthens It:

I can honestly tell you that I am always up in my spirit. I can say that I have never had discouragements. Disappointments? Yes. Discouragements? No. The difference? Disappointments are natural. But discouragements are human reactions. I have never chosen discouragement as a friend, inviting it to move in and reside in me. I just slam the door on discouragement and ride through the disappointment.

How do I do that? By recalling point number one: Salvation - God always provides it. I remind myself, "When faced with a mountain, I will not quit!" God doesn't quit on me. He always provides salvation. He always provides service. He will always strengthen my spirit. God doesn't quit. But do you know what? Disappointment will quit. It will end. You will come out on the other side with a spirit that is strong if you do not give up! Spirit - God always strengthens it.

4. SONG - God Always Puts One in Our Hearts:

I have heard children whistle. I have heard teenagers whistle. But I do not hear many older people whistle. What a sad thing. But this does not have to be so. God never quits giving us a song but we can choose to stop singing it. I still have my song. How I love to sing it! God can put a song in your heart again too.

Look at how He came to Smokey Robinson. Miraculous! Most of you know that Smokey Robinson is a very successful singing artist. What most of you probably don't know is that he also had a very heavy and destructive cocaine habit. When his secret life of drugs finally began to deteriorate his body, a dear friend recognized that Smokey was in bad shape. He insisted on staying with Smokey and prayed for him from one o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the morning. Smokey's friend then took him to a prayer service at his church where Smokey encountered a powerful experience with God. He was healed from his drug addiction that day. God restored Smokey. He restored Smokey's song.

On my International Board of Directors, we have powerful people. One of the members of my Board over the years, Ralph G. Anderson, wrote a book titled, Anderson's Way. Ralph is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is the founder of Belcan Corp., one of the great engineering companies of the world. He is one of the very few to have come through the University of Kentucky and end up in their Hall of Fame. Ralph is a great man. And he is a wonderful friend. I was honored when he asked me to write the forward to his book.

Soon after the book came out, I was speaking with Ralph on the phone. I said, "Ralph, I heard a report about you. It came from somebody who knew how close we are." Then I told him the report and asked, "Is it true?" He answered, "Yes. It's true. I go into surgery Tuesday. They found this little tumor in my colon. It's malignant." Then he added, "But, I'm not worried at all. When I received the news, something really neat happened." Ralph then recounted to me the following story:

"I came into my office at work and I noticed something strange on the wall. It was some sort of marking. Being an engineer, I quickly began analyzing what could be causing it. The sun? A light somewhere? I called in my secretary and asked her, 'What is that?' Her mouth dropped open. She assessed, 'It's a fish sign. That's the symbol of Jesus Christ. How did it get there?' I just shook my head, not knowing how to answer her."

Ralph then explained, "It was the sun, but incredibly, its position on that day, that month, that year, for one brief second, put it at an angle that hit a corner of my glass coffee table, reflecting the image of a perfect fish sign onto the wall. Dr. Schuller, I think it was a miracle. I believe that God sent it to communicate with me that when I go into surgery Tuesday, the Great Physician will be there, unseen and invisible. I have the best doctor and I'll be in the best hospital. But doctors don't have the ultimate control over medical circumstances. However, I know who does. Jesus will be in charge of my surgery Tuesday morning. I have a lot of peace."

That is the kind of God that we have. He does not quit on us. He saves us. He gives us service. He strengthens our spirits. He renews songs in our hearts. God is not in the wind. He is not in the earthquake. He is not in the fire. He is in a small, still voice telling you that He loves you and that He's committed to you for eternity. He has eternal intentions for your life. Discover them and believe in them today!

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for being such a personal God. Thank You for caring about the intricate details of our lives. I ask now that you would save people show them how to grow in their faith. Revive their spirits now. And renew the songs in their hearts. We love You and need You, Lord. Thank You for Your faithful care. Amen.