Anyone going through a difficult time needs to remember that the end has not yet come, and that our Heavenly Father may have all manner of wonderful things in store just around the bend in the road. USA TODAY once reported a story which demonstrates this fact very well.

Milwaukee Hamilton High School had a 22-15 lead against Milwaukee Marshall with just a few seconds left in a football game one Friday night in September of 1983. It appeared to be a sure victory. With only four seconds remaining, Hamilton, which was on its 40-yard line, snapped the ball to Jose Alba. Alba ran back toward his end zone to run out the clock, then tossed the ball into the air as time expired, thinking the game was over, and the victory belonged to him and his teammates.

But, remember-in football, the play is not finished until the ball is downed while in the possession of a player. So when the ball came down, one of Marshall's players, Floyd Heard, picked it up on the five and ran it in for a touchdown. Then with time expired, Marshall attempted the two-point conversion-and made it. They won the game 23-22.

There are many times in our lives when we're on the losing side of the scoreboard, and time is running out. If Floyd Heard had believed what the circumstances told him, he would have walked to the sideline, accepting defeat. Yet that is what we do so many times in our lives. The game - nor life - is over until it's over. Be encouraged! Don't give up! Stay the course!

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." (Luke 18:1 NIV)

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9 NIV)