Don’t Quit - Keep Following Jesus  

 

Recently my wife and I were playing a board game with two of our young grandsons. This is one of those games in which you have to roll a certain number on the die before you can even bring one of your playing pieces out of start so that it can begin to make its way around the board. Our five-year-old grandson got increasingly frustrated and discouraged at his numerous failed attempts to roll that desired number. He was ready to quit several times, but we encouraged him to keep trying. Finally, in spite of our continued pep talks, he grabbed his pieces off the board and gave up. While I was disappointed that he quit, I was glad when he came over to sit with me, declared that he was on my team, and helped me play the rest of the game. And, by the way, we won.

 In our journey through the game of life we are often faced with the temptation to quit. Hopefully along the way we have learned the value of persevering. We have benefited by continuing to push forward in spite of the difficulties and the obstacles on our pathway. We have seen that just because someone gets off to a slow start or experiences some setbacks, it doesn’t mean that he can’t still come out on top in the end. Additionally, we have discovered that sometimes there is joy and reward in just playing and finishing the game, no matter whether or not you are the official winner.

We need to remember those truths when it comes to our journey with the Lord. Perseverance is a needed quality when it comes to our faith, our prayers, our obedience to God’s will, and our service to Him. It may be tempting to quit at times. When you face some loss or heartache in life and don’t understand why God allowed it to happen. When your prayer seems to go unanswered – you keep asking and seeking, but the situation still seems to be stuck in the same place. When you are doing the right thing and obeying God, but end up being ridiculed or suffering in other ways as a result. When you are faithfully doing the work God calls you to do, but you aren’t seeing any positive results from it. Those are the times when we feel the urge to just pick up our pieces from the board and quit trying.

 However, the Bible encourages us through both word and example to persevere. Hebrews 11 is full of examples of people who kept trusting God in spite of rough roads and temporary setbacks. Yet they all won in the end, even those who lost their lives in the process. Jesus told people to keep praying and knocking on God’s door. Don’t give up – the answer may be just around the corner. The Bible encourages us to “not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). Keep doing what is right, even if it isn’t appreciated by those around you. Continue to serve the Lord, even if you don’t see much fruit from it at the moment. Sooner or later, you are going to reap the blessings from hanging in there when others have given up and fallen to the wayside.  

Don’t be a quitter when it comes to following the Lord. Even though it may be frustrating when it seems you are not making progress, or it is painful when others misunderstand you or mischaracterize your actions, or it is discouraging when you don’t get the desired results – keep running. Stay in the game. If you are on God’s team, you will win in the end.