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DON’T QUIT
By Evangelist.
Garlena L. Hines
“And
let us not be weary in well doing; for in
due season we shall reap, if we faint not”.
Gal. 6:9
Have you ever gotten to a point when you
just wanted to walk away? The more you
prayed about the marriage the worse it got.
The more you prayed for the children the
more rebellious they became. The more you
prayed about the supervisor the more that
supervisor “plucked your nerves” and at
times you wanted to throw in the towel and
walk away from it all. In other words, you
wanted to quit. While you feel the
frustration of standing and waiting on God,
believing Him for a change, it’s hard to see
how the hand of God is working in the
situation. Many times we fail to understand
that sometimes God will deliver us while we
are in our mess before He delivers us out of
it. That’s exactly what happened to the
three Hebrew boys. You may feel that I
don’t know your circumstances or situation,
but I know the power of God. Your
willingness and determination to stand and
see your problem through is a sign that you
are not a quitter. I believe when we change
our attitudes about our struggles and trials
we will come through them with fewer battle
scars. Walk with me if you believe you are
on the verge of quitting.
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You have to walk through it:
“Yea though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death I will
fear no evil”
(Psalms 23:4). The fact that you are
going through and NOT stuck says a lot.
Every day you get up and make the
decision to continue trusting God is a
sign that you are victorious. The
scripture in Psalms says “Yea though I
walk through” meaning you do not
need to pack a suitcase, build a tent
and sit in the trouble you are facing.
Keep going forward in the things of God,
knowing that He has it all in control.
Then David says something that blesses
me--“the valley”, meaning the lowest
point of our lives--the point where we
feel God has left us. See, it’s in the
valley that many of us have learned to
pull on God like never before. The
times when we felt we would not make it
and had no one else to turn to, we
pulled on God. Then he says “the shadow
of death”. As a kid I was fascinated by
shadows. I was amazed how my shadow
followed me and did everything that I
did, but it wasn’t real. A shadow is
defined as “a dark shape, e.g. on
the ground or a wall, caused by an
object (or person, etc.) blocking light”
(Wikipedia Dictionary). Understand as
you’re walking through this phase of
your life finances, marital problems,
relationship problems, work or church
related problems may be your shadow, but
you have to walk through it and “don’t
quit”.
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You’ve been considered for this
assignment:
How many times have you gone through and
asked, “Why me”? “Why my family, why my
husband, children etc.?” How about
asking this question, “Why not me?”
When we turn to Job 1:8 we find these
words,
“And the Lord said unto satan, Has
thou considered my servant Job”.
When the enemy presented himself before
God along with the other angels, satan
never brought up Job’s name, but God
did. See, God knows what’s inside of
you because He placed it there. He
knows what you can and cannot handle.
He knows what you are equipped to take
care of and He knows what to orchestrate
in your life to draw you closer to Him.
So, understand that God has assigned
this particular trial to you and instead
of wasting time asking, “Why me?”, ask
God what is He doing in you through this
trial? Ask Him to show you how to
spiritually and strategically handle
what’s going on. Know that you are not
fighting for the victory, but that you
are fighting from a place of victory.
The enemy was defeated on Calvary and
he’s still a defeated foe. Don’t quit.
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You can handle this even when you feel
you can’t:
“But
God is faithful who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that ye are able”
(I Corinthians 10:13b). I remember the
old hymn that we sang, “He knows, yes he
knows just how much we can bear”. While
we may feel the trial is too hard and
the burden should be lifted God knows
and will not allow you to suffer or bear
more than you can handle. So, when you
feel you can’t take it anymore and
you’re ready to throw in the towel,
remember you can handle this through the
power of God and the strength He gives.
Stand strong and “don’t quit”.
In 2005, I was going through some serious
financial problems and I wanted to quit and
do it my way. At least I could be in
control. I knew GOD had me walking in a new
level of FAITH, but it was beginning to wear
on me. I told GOD, “Here we are in another
month and I have to wait for you to make a
decision at 11:59 o’clock and 59 seconds”.
As Joyce Meyer says it, “Everybody gets to
go to the bank and pay their bills, but I
have to do everything by faith”. I knew
what she meant because I found myself
becoming frustrated, aggravated and
agitated!!! GOD, what are you doing? God,
I am tired of waiting on you every month for
my financial situation. I want to be able
to budget and KNOW what I’m doing. This is
getting old. Sweetly and softly I heard,
“You are tired of Me being LORD? You
are tired of Me being in control? You are
tired of depending on Me and
seeing you through”?
I focused more
on my financial situation than I did the
Ultimate Provider. Although it was very
stressful, I understand I caused my own
stress by magnifying what was not
important. I’ve learned to magnify whatever
is greater, and my God has proven to be
greater. I can say from that period of my
life in 2005 that I am now debt free because
I depended on God and I didn’t quit.
I pray that if you are going through
something difficult and feel like quitting,
walk it out with God and it will be worth
it. Make a decision to: (1) walk through
it; (2) know you’ve been considered to
handle it; and (3) you can handle it as long
as you “don’t quit”. |
