Giving Up

Either we are adrift in chaos or we are individuals, created, loved, upheld and placed purposefully, exactly where we are. Can you believe that? Can you trust God for that? Elisabeth Elliot

In life we are all going to face disappointments.  We will pursue a job and not get it, chase after a dream and lose it or be healthy our whole life and then be brought down by a terminal illness. How we handle the disappointments in life makes a difference in how we end the race of life. What happens in us makes a difference in our character and who we will become as a Christian.   

What do you do when bad things happen to you?  Do you stop paddling and just let the current take you wherever it wills?  Do you get rid of the very things you need to survive the disappointment? Do you give up? 

Too many times I think we do all three.  When something happens in your life whether it be disappointments or tragedies we often just stop doing anything.  Years ago when I was in college we would go canoeing.  We would get into pairs in a canoe with two oars.  There was always a current in the river, so there was a reason the canoe came with oars.  If you just jumped in and let the water take you wherever it wanted, you would end up in the trees along the bank.  The oars were there so you could guide the canoe where you wanted it to go.  Your life is no different.  Coasting through life is not where character is built.  The turbulent waters of life are where we become the strongest. (Acts 27:15 So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive.)  Don’t let your ship drive.

The next thing we do is we dump things overboard.  (Acts 27:18-19 And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.)  We get rid of the very things we need most to survive.  When I went through cancer there were many I met who were angry about their cancer.  There were others still who blamed God, their family, or their occupation for their illness.  What these individuals did was they distanced themselves from God and family.  Those are the very people you need the most when you are going through it.   

The third thing we do is we give up.  (Acts 27:20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.) The last thing we need is to give up in the midst of our storm.  Character is not built by giving up.  If you want spiritual strength, don’t give up.  When your life is at its darkest and you don’t give up, you find that you can move one more step forward; and then another and another. 

If we accept the fact that we live in a fallen world where disappointments will occur; it shouldn’t surprise us when they do.  God gives us the comfort, support and strength to persevere through our hardships.  The key is we must keep moving and not give up.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, you are faithful.  When the hardships of life come my way I find that You are always there.  You guide me, love me and support me through the worst storms of life.  I am thankful for You and the blessings you have brought me through suffering.  I am a better person for it.       

      

Scripture: But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:10-13