God's Measurement

God is saying to His people,

I will rejoice with you on your big day,
but I will measure you on your low day.
I will rejoice with you in victory
but I will measure you when you take defeat.
I will rejoice with you in success
but I will measure you when you fail
I will cheer you when you’re up;
but I will measure you when you’re down
I will cheer you when you win
but I will measure you when you lose.
I will praise you when you’re on top
but I will measure you when you’re on bottom.
I will congratulate you when you’re on the top of the mountain
but I will measure you after seeing you in the valley.
I will exalt you when you have conquered
but I will not measure you until you are conquered.
I will cheer for you on your way up
but I will not measure you ‘till I see you on your way down.
Before I measure you, I must see you swim upstream.
Before I measure you, I must see you against a beehive of opposition.
Before I measure you, I must see you in the heat of the battle.
Before I measure you, I must see how you respond to failure.
God says, before I measure you, I must see you stand alone.
Before I measure you, I must see you stabbed in back by so-called friends.
Before I measure you, I must see you at the graveside.
Before I measure you, I must see how you’re being mistreated.
Before I measure you, God says, I must see you when your own is mistreated.
Before I measure you, I must see what it takes to stop you.
God is saying, I’ll measure you, when you take criticism without the praise.
I will not measure you until I’ve seen you face defeat without any hope of victory.
I will not measure you until I find out how many times you bounce back from being wounded, forsaken, slandered, lied about, and gossiped about.
I must see your heart and not your mind.
I must see your heart and not your face.
I must see your heart and not your form.
I must see you at your weakest moment before I can pause to measure you to see what greatness really exists there.
I must see you when you’re discouraged.
I must see you when you’re bankrupt.
I must see you when you’re lonely.
I must see you when you’re bereaved.
God is saying, before I measure you, I must see if failure is the final chapter in your life.
Before I measure you, I must see if a knockdown is a knockout.
Before I measure you, I must see if you have corrected your mistake.
Before I measure you, I must see if your enthusiasm in failure still exists.
Before I measure you, I must see if your attitude is still up when you lose and not when you win.

Young people,
you cannot be properly measured unless when you’re at the bottom or when you’re in the valley.
God says, I must see if you will rise one more time than you fall.
God is saying, I must see if you win after you have lost.
Before I measure you, I must see if you give more than you receive.
Before I measure you, I must see if you can take it.
Before I measure you, I must see you laugh after you weep.
Before I measure you, I must find out how you respond after a sneak attack.
Before I measure you, I must see your tenacity when behind.
I must see your perseverance when opposed.
I must see your endurance while losing.
I must see your survival record.
I must see your comeback victories.
I do not care to see where you are, but from whence you have come.

Bob Jones Sr. said, every person needs a hard failure early in life.

God is saying, I must see if you can overcome that one hard failure early in life.

Get the picture!
It’s not the number of victories that God will measure you by, but the number of defeats REBOUNDED from that God will measure you.

If you’re here and you’re down, don’t feel bad, there’s a bunch of us here.
If you’re here tonight and you’re underneath the attack, don’t feel bad, there’s a bunch of here.
Proverbs 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

If you’re here and you’ve fallen 15 times but got back up everytime, let me shake your hand!

The only true failure in life is when you quit trying to succeed.