“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
Have you ever had a verse just stick in your head? I’ve been reading quite a bit lately and through the course of one of the books I’m into the author shared this verse to make a point. I sat on this page and in this paragraph for what must have been a half-hour. I can’t even tell you what point the author was trying to make with using the verse, I just knew that for whatever reason, I was needing to camp on it for a while. Galatians 6:9 was that verse.
Giving up is so easy! I think I’ve mentioned before how my son is a cross-country runner. They have trained hard to run a 5k or 3k and very few, if any, give up during the course of their run. They stick to it! Endure the pain, power through it and even come in last if that’s what it takes to finish.
This is exactly how God intends for us — for me — to run the race. Now, granted, if I set out for a 5k, I’d be looking all over for an easy button! But God never said the race we are to run in Him was going to be an easy race. In fact, He warned us there would be “trials of many kind.” Some of them would look like little roots that stick out of the ground and trip you up, while others would be steep cliffs that would appear far too impossible to scale. But Christ encourages us through Paul to “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
When my circumstances get tough and I focus on the “here and now,” it is part of my nature to want to “get off the ride” so to speak. I remember a recent trip to Six Flags with my family and encountering this very thought. It’s important for you to know that roller coasters and I do not typically see eye-to-eye on the definition of “that was fun.” And yet, for many important reasons, I agreed with my family to ride the Superman ride. Why couldn’t I just pick the one that is simple? But no . . . I have to agree to the one that suspends you from your back and places nothing between you and the ground, then sends you into an inverted loop and accelerates you into a corkscrew. I can’t tell you how bad I wanted an easy button for this! Saying “NO WAY” was an option, giving up was possible, but that would be overlooking the MANY things God wanted to teach me through being suspended by my back 140 feet in the air, diving into an inverted loop and thrusted into a corkscrew. It actually sounds a lot like my life . . . hmmm.
It’s never going to be easy to withstand the pressures of life . . . in fact, impossible without Him. But when I am facing my giants, with all of it’s twists, loops and corkscrews, I don’t have to give up — I don’t have to look for the easy button. Instead, I look down and remind myself where my feet are planted — on the Solid Rock, and then I look up and see where it is I’m seated — right next to my Savior! I’m standing on a very firm foundation through Christ who strengthens me. It’s who I am!
So, when I’m ready to give up Lord Jesus, remind me of the many things you are trying to teach me, remind me of my footing, remind me of my position in you!
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” I Corinthians 15:58
by: Mark Cruver