V180
V180

‘At the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’ Galatians 6:9 NIV

There’s no such thing as instant success, with either people or problems. Whether you need to lose 10 kg or 100 kg, the weight can only be shed one kilo at a time. Standing on top of the mountain is a thrill, but you can only get up there one step at a time. Nothing great is created suddenly; almost every significant success in life comes at the end of a long, tough wait. And unless you accept that truth, you’ll give up too soon and settle far short of the success God has in mind for you.

The American company Jell-O will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year, and if the inventor was still around, he’d probably feel awkward about his product’s success. It’s likely he wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In 1897 Pearl Wait wore many hats. He was a construction worker who also experimented in patent medicines, and he went door to door selling his therapies. In the midst of tinkering and experimenting, he hit upon the idea of mixing fruit flavouring with granulated gelatin. His wife promptly named it Jell-O, and he had one more product to sell.

Unfortunately, the initial sales of his jiggly snack were not as strong as he hoped, so he ended up selling his Jell-O rights to Orator Woodward for the paltry sum of $450. Woodward was a savvy businessman. He knew the value of marketing, and within eight years he’d turned a $450 investment into a million-dollar business. Today, not a single relative of Pearl Wait receives one cent from the one-million-plus boxes of Jell-O sold every day. Why not? Because Wait couldn’t wait!

SoulFood: Num 29:1–6, Matt 24, Rev 11:15–19, 1 Cor 15:50–58

word4today an adaptation of The Word For Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024

V180 Logo

Tap here to get this reading each day directly in your inbox

Select Specific Day

SMTWTFS
« SepNov »