Walk His Way Revisited
First posted in July, 2014

“But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience (endurance).” Luke 8:15

Wanting To Quit

I was tired. Bone-tired. Soul-tired. I didn’t want to do any more work. I wanted a rest. I wanted to nap and read a book and escape to a quiet place and take an exciting vacation and enjoy a long bubble bath, a fragrant candle lit beside me and the lights low…

Or maybe it was just spring fever getting to me. I wanted to do something special. I wanted to go outside and get the sun on my face and arms and work in my garden and smell the flowers and pick the fruit. I wanted the next few weeks to look entirely different than the last few weeks.

I know you’ve been in this same place. Some days, it’s all we can do to put one foot in front of the other to keep going. Whether we are bored with sameness, or overworked, or haven’t slept well, or our hormones are wacky, or we’re just plain tired of doing things for everyone else—we want to quit.

We have need of patient endurance, don’t we? I get a needed perspective when I remember those who have gone before me, as we are admonished to do in Hebrews 11. I think of Paul, who spent himself completely for the Lord’s work. I think of Moses, who could neither quit nor turn back on his journey for 40 whole years. I think of Jonah, who was compelled to do what he most feared and hated. I think of Jesus, who knew what the cross held for Him, yet He willingly went.

No, I don’t need to quit. I need the Lord’s strength so that I may continue to bear fruit. I need a strong commitment to the call of God on my life. I need endurance, which is “the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.”*

Jesus, You understand physical weariness. Help me not to be weary in doing good, and would You grace me with the gift of endurance. Thank You, Lord, for giving me what I need. Amen.

*Spirit-Filled Life Bible notes on Hebrews 10:36