Don’t give up.
Those are my words to you today. Well, those are God’s words to me, and I’m sharing them with you. Don’t give up.
That health issue you’ve been dealing with for so long? Don’t give up.
That relationship you’ve been trying to heal for so long? Don’t give up.
That person you’ve been praying about for so long? Don’t give up.
That ministry you’re in, that job you’ve worked hard at, that goal you keep trying and maybe failing… Insert your own seemingly impossible situation.
Don’t. Give. Up.
What if Moses had given up during his 40 years before God called him, or the 40 years he wandered in the desert after He called him? What if Jeremiah had given up prophesying to God’s people because they refused to listen to him? What if Abraham and Sarah had given up on having the promised child? What if Nehemiah had given up when the walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed? What if Job had given up when his wife told him to?
What if Ruth had given up when her husband died? What if Joseph had given up while he languished in prison? What if Gideon had given up and let fear take over while hiding in the winepress? What if David had given up when he sinned so colossally? What if Peter had given up and never come back to Jesus after His resurrection? What if John had given up on the island of Patmos?
God’s Word is not a cleaned up, whitewashed story showing only the good side of mankind. God intentionally lets us see the worst of it – the sin, the shame, the end of the road, the hopelessness that exists in all our lives at one time or another.
And then we see God. Time and time again we see a loving, gracious Heavenly Father who loves to change the story. He loves a surprise ending. And a surprise beginning and middle. He loves to show the greatness of His mercy at a time when no one would have expected it.
God’s Word, which continues in all His believers, is a story of a God who makes the impossible possible. He makes the wretched sinner new and free. He makes the dead alive again. He gives hope to the hopeless. He is the miracle-maker, the faith-giver, the blessed redeemer. He is the power and the glory. He is the overcomer.
Call on Him now in the confidence of who He is and confess the sin, present the problem, and then wait with great expectation.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:5
If you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, let me say this – God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die in your place. Yes, you. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, it doesn’t matter how you’ve failed, it doesn’t matter where you are, who you are, how old or young you are. (Believe me, no one was as lost as I was.) God is able to save you right here, right now.
Simply acknowledge that you have sinned – in other words, confess you’re not perfect. None of us is. We have all sinned and fallen short of the perfection of God. Then tell God that you receive Jesus Christ’s payment on the cross for your sin, and ask Jesus to come into your life, into your heart, to make you a new person, and to fill you with the Holy Spirit.
If you want to read more, you can click up at the top on How You Can Know God, and you can read a little snippet of my story of redemption at My Testimony. If you prayed this prayer, or if you have any questions, or would like prayer for any reason, click on A Place For Prayer Requests or you can email me by clicking on that swanky envelope to the right. May the Lord bless you and fill you anew with His hope and peace.
