Don’t Give Up
Do you ever just want to throw in the towel?
Verse of the Day
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Today’s Devotional
Endurance. Do you have any? Do you need it?
This is the time of year when I need endurance. I need to keep doing the things that work in my life, and remove the distractions that don’t work. As we enter into November, it feels like the weather turns beautiful (in Texas) and our schedules start to get crazy. The holidays are almost upon us, and it feels like a focus on endurance would be fitting. Just today I was booking travel for December, and it feels like it’s right around the corner.
What is endurance? According to the dictionary, endurance is “the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions.” We could also call it steadfastness, or stick-to-it-iveness. If we have endurance, we don’t quit. No matter what. Could you use endurance in your spiritual life?
Sometimes we all get tired of doing whatever God has placed in front of us to do. Dealing with other humans can be exhausting. Add stress, uncertainty, and a crazy world to the mix, and it’s enough to make anyone lose their cool. Or give up.
This verse was very impactful to me at a certain point in my life. I needed the reminder not to give up. And this verse remains precious to me today. I constantly need this message. And the wording of this translation is interesting. It makes it sound like we have a choice to not become weary. Have you ever considered that?
How in the world do we choose to not become weary? I heard a few things in a sermon yesterday that speak to this:
- God doesn’t give us the option to push “pause” on our purpose.
- Jesus never asks me what I don’t have. He asks me what I do have and what I’m willing to do with it.
- Any attempt to refresh myself by focusing on myself always leaves me more weary.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28 to come to Him when we are weary and He will give us rest. He then follows that by telling us to take His yoke on us, because it’s an easy burden to bear. So when I’m weary, Jesus is telling me to come to Him, and connect myself to Him – like a yoke connects two animals to do a job. I should be so connected to Him that I cannot go my own way. That’s a choice. And maybe that choice is what allows us to have endurance. Look at the picture at the top of today’s post. That’s a yoke. Imagine that your neck is in one “loop”, and Jesus is one the other side. Would that make your day look any different?
We are going to spend the next few days studying endurance. I encourage you to get out your journal. Any notebook or paper will work. Answer any of the questions below, or just write out your prayer to God today. I promise you that it will transform you in someway to choose to have endurance in the spiritual discipline of writing your prayers. It’s such a beautiful way to be able to see how God has moved. And it’s a great way to build (and practice) your endurance.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
In what areas of your life do you struggle with wanting to give up?
In what ways have you reaped a harvest from past struggles?
How has God shown his goodness to you in those areas?
How can you lean in and persevere – just for today?
How can you connect yourself with Jesus today?