"If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan?" (Jeremiah 12:5)

This is a good verse to challenge us when we are tempted to give up too quickly and too easily. If we can't face minor difficulties, how can we expect to face major ones? If we buckle under the petty blows of life, how will we bear up under the sledgehammer blows?

We hear of Christians who sulk and pout because someone has offended them. Others turn in their resignation because someone has criticized them. Still others get their nose out of Joint because some pet idea has been voted down.

Folks with minor physical ailments often howl like a wounded bear. One wonders what they would do with a catastrophic illness. If a businessman can't cope with day to day problems, it is unlikely he will be able to face the big ones.

We all need a certain amount of tough-mindedness. By that we do not mean that we should be harsh or insensitive. Rather we mean that we should be able to bend with the punches. We need the resiliency that bounces back and carries on.

Perhaps you are facing a crisis today. At the moment it seems monumental. You are tempted to quit. And yet a year from now it won't seem important at all. This is the time when you should say with the psalmist, "For by Thee I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall" (Psalms 18:29 NASB).

The unidentified writer of Hebrews makes an interesting observation to those whom he was challenging to endure. He says, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood" (Hebrews 12:4). In other words, you have not paid the ultimate price - martyrdom. If Christians go to pieces over a broken dish or a lost cat or a disappointed love affair, what would they do if they were faced with martyrdom?

Most of us would have quit long ago if we gave in to our feelings. But you don't quit in the Christian warfare. You pick yourself up from the ground, shake off the dust, and move forward into the conflict. Victory in the minor skirmishes will help us win the major battles.