Happy Monday and God Bless you!

This article “had me at hello.”  When IS a good time to quit?  Not likely when things are going great!  By the way, do we tend to take it for granted when things are going great or do we give thanks to God for each and every one of those moments?  Ah… then what about the bad times?

There are days that my every instinct tells me to go back to bed, cover up my head and hope the world just goes away.  Maybe, by the time I get up again, everything will be ok again.  Does that work for anyone else?  Hasn’t worked for me yet.

As soon as I read this title, I thought of The Daniel Plan.  It is ALWAYS too soon to quit!  It is a lifestyle, not a fad or trend.  But then I thought about life in general.  Is there a good time to quit?  If my faith is in Jesus Christ, then why would I quit.  Do I not trust in Him enough to know that His will is perfect and only in my best interests, even if I can’t understand it at the time?

If I give up, if I quit, then I feel like I am telling Jesus that I can’t do it on my own, but I have no one else to carry me through.  One of the many things that I have learned in my Christian walk and my Daniel Plan walk is that I can’t do it on my own.  But most importantly, I don’t have to!  And I don’t want to!

It’s Always Too Soon to Quit!

Pray Unceasingly!!

 In His light,

Lois

 

It’s Always Too Soon to Quit

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT).

The difference between faithful people and unfaithful people is that faithful people don’t give up at the first sign of difficulty. They keep on keeping on. Faithful people are determined. Faithful people are diligent. Faithful people are persistent. Faithful people don’t know how to quit. You know how a little acorn becomes an oak tree? An oak tree is just an acorn that refused to give up.

I’m not that smart, but I do know one thing: It is always too soon to quit. You are never a failure until you quit, and it’s always too soon to quit. God uses tough times to test our persistence.

When we started Saddleback, I preached the first sermon to one person: my wife. She thought it was too long. Thirty-one years later, she’s still saying my sermons are too long!

I thought when we started a church we’d get a building quickly. We went 15 years without a building. In the first 13 years of Saddleback Church, we used 79 different facilities. You know how many times I felt like giving up? Nearly every Monday morning! But I don’t know how to quit. And God said, “Rick, if I never give the church a building, would you still serve me?” And I said, “Absolutely!”

Saddleback grew to more than 10,000 people before we built our first building. How would you like to set up and take down a church for 10,000 people every week? There’s not a lot of glory in that. It’s just hard work. God uses tough times to test our persistence.

If you’re going through tough times right now, then this Scripture is for you: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT).

God is more interested in what you’re becoming than in what’s happening to you. He often allows trials, troubles, tribulations, and problems in your life to teach you diligence, determination, and character. The problem you’re going through right now? It’s a test of your faithfulness. Will you continue to serve God even when life is tough?

“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).