How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Giving Up (Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13)
Listen.February 21st, 2010
Rev. Dr. Craig A. Wagner
Introduction
It’s always fascinating to watch a marathon race. I most enjoy watching the end of the race from my recliner in front of the television set. All joking aside, I admire those folks who can run 26.2 miles. Some of you sitting here may have accomplished that feat. Even though I am not a runner, I think I know about the training it takes in order to run a marathon. I’ve done some long distance cycling and realize that a person needs to work up to the event. Training is vital to develop the endurance to run that long. Training also helps us to persevere when the race becomes so difficult and agonizing that we want to stop somewhere along the way and call it quits. Someone suggested that completing a marathon run requires perseverance through pain.
Perseverance is also required in most of the significant accomplishments in life. For example: Most marriages have difficult passages from time to time. There are those difficult times when either husband or wife considers throwing in the towel. When marriages are struggling where do we find the strength to endure and to keep moving forward?
Even in churches there are highs and lows. There are times when serving and being a part of the community is an utter joy and then there are times that are demoralizing and exhausting. How do we continue to serve when evil invades the church? How do we persevere?
Or the problems in life that come from a series of bad financial decisions. That can take a long time of trying to train ourselves in new habits that are based on sound financial advice – which, by the way, many of us learned through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. How do we keep going when we feel like giving up and reverting to our old habits?
There are times in life when we simply want to quit; when we are exhausted, tired, discouraged and even feel that we’re in over our heads. Where do we turn?
This morning we look for a while at the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah prophesied for about 40 years. During those years, he was beaten thrown into prison, humiliated and had a very difficult life. But he remained faithful to what God wanted to God and shared the word that God called him to share. Some of his example will help us today to persevere in spite of obstacles and difficulties. Three thoughts that will help us when we feel like giving in:
I. Revisit your calling
As the book of Jeremiah opens, we discover that God had known Jeremiah intimately. God had formed Jeremiah for the purpose of being a prophet. The Bible reminds us that God knew Jeremiah even before he formed him in the womb. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet of God. He was to take God’s message – harsh and condemning of the people of Judah because they had strayed from God – in spite of how difficult would be for him. It’s never easy to bring a message of condemnation to anyone, much less an entire population. The response to God’s message spoken through Jeremiah was on of imprisonment, hardship, humiliation, struggle, arrest and even being suspended in the middle of a muddy pit; not glorious work.
How did he keep going in spite of the difficulties? I’m sure he must have felt like giving up and throwing in the towel. Did he sign up for such treatment? I doubt it. He kept going by revisiting his calling. God called him to the task at hand. He called him to make a difference in the lives of the people of Judah. As Jeremiah remembered his calling was from God and began even before he was born, the strength of God was with him. He recalled the words that God spoke to him: Do not be afraid, I am with you.
When we feel like giving up; throwing in the towel; we need to revisit our calling. Perhaps we sit here this morning and think to ourselves “Well, I don’t think that God has called me to anything! Certainly not like Jeremiah.” Yet, if we think about it, we realize that God has called us into a certain area, into a certain job, into a certain relationship, into a certain circumstance for a purpose.
We need to revisit that purpose, that calling. As we revisit the calling in our life, we redirect the energy of our life because we can organize our life around something new. If there is a problem in our marriage, think about the role God wants you to play in the marriage and redirect your attitudes and actions around his purposes.
What is our calling? Is it to be a faithful spouse, a generous giver, a mentor of teens, a good teacher, a loyal employee, a Christ-centered business owner? Whatever our calling is, God is with us and will empower us as we as we seek to live our lives according to his desires and wishes. When we revisit our calling God can give us new perspective in a familiar situation.
II. Respond honestly
In Jeremiah 19 there is a story about a clay pot. Jeremiah is commanded by God to purchase a clay pot and then take it the elders in the valley of Ben Hinnom. There he will deliver a prophecy against the city of Jerusalem and smash the pot breaking it into pieces. Jerusalem will be smashed in pieces just like the clay pot. The very site where Jeremiah does this is a site where child sacrifices were performed. He then goes to the city of Jerusalem and tells the elders there the same prophecy.
He ends up being beaten and placed in the stocks where he will remain all night. Proclaiming God’s word and judgment is often met with suffering. He experienced humiliation, mockery, pain; what a journey of faith!
Then Jeremiah pours out his dismay to God. He rants that God has deceived him; his words have brought nothing but insult and reproach; he’s been ridiculed and it is so bad that he wishes he had not been born. What a distressful time for Jeremiah. In his darkest times, he responds honestly to God. It is a raw prayer – one can feel the wounds and the sores.
But God desires honest prayer; even if they are a bit raw and messy. Even if the prayers are not grandiose or eloquent, God desires them to be honest. Jeremiah was honest in his response. There are times in our life when we discover that even though we are listening to God’s call and know where we should be and what we are doing, things are going badly. We are hurting and struggling and we begin to wonder what is happening to us. Why is God doing this? This is a time for honest prayers.
Where are you currently most discouraged in life? Do you feel that you’ve been faithful to God but are experiencing disillusionment? If so, do something in the next 48 hours: find a quiet place where you have at least an hour to meet with God; pray your disappointment and unmet expectations. Open up that channel of communication; be honest. I don’t know what will happen but God wants us to meet with him. Jeremiah did – over 40 years he never abandoned his calling even when it got rough; discouragement yes, abandonment, no. When you feel like giving up, respond honestly.
III. Remember God’s faithfulness
In Jeremiah 32 we read that Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonian army. It will be destroyed. Things are not going well for the city. They will be destroyed, the land laid waste, and the survivors deported. Guess what God directs Jeremiah to do? He commands him to but a field. I’m not sure even Dave Ramsey would give this advice! It would certainly be a poor financial decision. The country is in ruins, the people will be deported, property will be confiscated and Jeremiah will buy a field! Jeremiah is confused and frustrated by this command, but he faithfully does what God asks.
This is an object lesson that God will be faithful to his promise and the people will not be totally abandoned. The exile will come to an end and the people will return. Someday the land will be restored. God’s discipline at this time will ultimately result in the people’s restoration and not their destruction. Hope is present in Jeremiah’s action. God will remain faithful.
There are times when we feel like giving up. There are times when life’s events bring discouragement and we wonder about our calling and about God’s presence in the events of our life. It is precisely at these times that we need to remember God’s faithfulness. We need to recall God’s great love for us in his son Jesus and the difference it has made in each one of us and in all of our relationships. God has not and will not abandon us whether it be in our relationships with one another, our marriages, our church, our financial issues, God is present and we know because of Jesus he loves us and cares about.
A second homework assignment this week: Beside finding a quiet space and meeting with God, is to make some “stones of remembrance.” You can find rocks, bricks, tiles, or just plain paper and write on the object the ways God has taken care of you in the past. In doing this our future is strengthened. It helps immensely when we remember how faithful God has been with us in the past. There are times when a good friend can remind us of that and then there are times when we need to sit down and remember.
Conclusion
In scriptures the journey of faith is often compared to a race. The race is more like a marathon than a sprint – we can be weighed down by pain, frustration, and discouragement, but we train and we remain faithful and we persevere.
During the winter Olympics in Canada, the US downhill skier, Lindsey Vonn took home the gold. She skied in spite of a hurt and bruised shin. She was determined, she had trained, she had experienced disappointment and frustration. But she endured. In life difficulties happened, but today we are urged by Jeremiah’s life to revisit our calling, respond honestly to God and remember God’s faithfulness; all in Jesus’ name. Amen.