God will never give up on you

One day I decided to quit...

I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I asked, "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied. "

When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.

"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.

In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit." He said.

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...

But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." He asked me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots". "I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you." "Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful." "Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes." He said,

"Give me glory by rising as high as you can." I left the forest and brought back this story.

I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

Don't tell the Lord how big the problem is, tell the problem how Great the Lord is!

九九一族

有位國王，天下盡在手中，照理，應該滿足了吧，但事實並非如此。

國王自己也納悶，為什麼對自己的生活還不滿意，儘管他也有意識地參加一些有意思的晚宴和聚會，但都無濟於事，總覺得缺點什麼。

一天，國王起個大早，決定在王宮中四處轉轉。當國王走到御膳房時，他聽到有人在快樂地哼著小曲。循著聲音，國王看到是一個廚子在唱歌，臉上洋溢著幸福和快樂。

國王甚是奇怪，他問廚子為什麼如此快樂？

廚子答道：「陛下，我雖然只不過是個廚子，但我一直盡我所能讓我的妻小快樂，我們所需不多，頭頂有間草屋，肚裏不缺暖食，便夠了。我的妻子和孩子是我的精神支柱，而我帶回家哪怕一件小東西都能讓他們滿足。我之所以天天如此快樂，是因為我的家人天天都快樂。」

聽到這裏，國王讓廚子先退下，然後向宰相諮詢此事

宰相答道：「陛下，我相信這個廚子還沒有成為『九九一族』。」 國王詫異地問道：「九九一族？什麼是九九一族？」 宰相答道：「陛下，想確切地知道什麼是九九一族，請您先做這樣一件事情，在一個包裏，放進去九九枚金幣，然後把這個包放在那個廚子的家門口，您很快就會明白什麼是九九一族了。」

國王按照宰相所言，令人將裝了九九枚金幣的布包放在了那個快樂的廚子門前。廚子回家的時候發現了門前的布包，好奇心讓他將包拿到房間裏，當他打開包，先是驚詫，然後狂喜：「金幣！全是金幣！這麼多的金幣！」廚子將包裏的金幣全部倒在桌上，開始查點金幣，「九九枚？」廚子認為不應該是這個數，於是他數了一遍又一遍，的確是九九枚。他開始納悶：「沒理由只有九九枚啊？沒有人會只裝九九枚啊？那麼那一枚金幣哪裡去了？」

廚子開始尋找，他找遍了整個房間，又找遍了整個院子，直到筋疲力盡，他才徹底絕望了，心中沮喪到了極點。他決定從明天起，加倍努力工作，早日掙回一枚金幣，以使他的財富達到百枚金幣。

由於晚上找金幣太辛苦，第二天早上他起來得有點晚，情緒也極壞，對妻子和孩子大吼大叫，責怪他們沒有及時叫醒他，影響了他早日掙到一枚金幣這一宏偉目標的實現。他匆匆來到御膳房，不再像往日那樣興高采烈，既不哼小曲也不吹口哨了，只是埋頭拼命地幹活，一點也沒有注意到國王正悄悄地觀察著他。

看到廚子心緒變化如此巨大，國王大為不解，得到那麼多的金幣應該欣喜若狂才對啊。他再次詢問宰相。

宰相答道：「陛下，這個廚子現在已經正式加入『九九一族』了。

九九一族是這樣一類人：他們擁有很多，但從來不會滿足，他們拼命工作，為了額外的那個『一』，他們苦苦努力，渴望儘早實現『百』。原本生活中那麼多值得高興和滿足的事情，因為忽然出現了湊足『百』的可能性，一切都被打破了，他竭力去追求那個並無實質意義的『一』，不惜付出失去快樂的代價，這就是九九一族。」