Today, I’m going to talk about “Resisting Quitting.” Ever felt like quitting? People quit for all kinds of reasons. Might be that waiting in the line at the checkout counter is just taking too long, so they put their stuff down and leave. Maybe someone is in some kind of relationship and things aren’t going well, so they break off the relationship, whether a friendship or a marriage. Could be that someone thinks that God isn’t helping them as much as they think He should, so they bail out on God and go their own way. When you quit, you lose whatever you quit out of and it’s very difficult to get it back.
The opposite of quitting is being patient and waiting. James begins chapter 5 with the words NIV James 5:7a Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. God commands us to be patient until the Lord’s coming. What is the Lord’s coming? When Jesus rose from the dead, before He ascended into heaven, He promised to return to earth again. When He comes the second time, it will be as a triumphant king, to wrap up history as we know it. But in the meantime, James is saying that we need to be patient, we need to resist quitting, we need to learn to wait on the Lord. TEV Isaiah 49:23 You will know that I am the Lord; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed.
When you’re going through a difficult circumstance in life, you will be tempted to quit waiting on the Lord. You will be tempted to get mad at God or other people. You will be tempted to quit believing that God cares about you. If you quit on God, you won’t receive anything from Him. But, if you wait for God’s help, you won’t be disappointed. It seems to me that in most situations, God makes us wait longer then we would like. We want an answer yesterday, but God makes us wait just a little bit longer. So our faith and patience grows stronger. So, how can you resist quitting? How can you learn to practice patience in every area of your life?
To hear more about this topic, listen to my September 16, 2007 message entitled Resisting Quitting
I’ve used this message with clients in therapy. If they are believers, I ask them not to worry about a problem they cannot resolve. Give the problem to God and ask for help. Don’t get frustrated and yank the problem back.
Ask for help, have faith, and wait with expectation. Also, prepare to be surprised. God gives us what we need sometimes, not what we want. Very often the result is better for us and teaches us something at the same time.