Don’t Give Up To Soon

March 14, 2023

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

2 Timothy 4:7

Many times, in our lives and ministries we face challenges that make us just want to give up and quit. We think in our minds we can’t face whatever challenge that we are facing. I recently came through a season of almost 10 years in ministry where many times I wanted to just give up and quit. I wanted to take the easy road. For reasons that I didn’t know at the time, the Holy Spirit kept encouraging me to keep going and not give up. This was truly hard because it would have been way easier on me to just quit. Looking back now I am glad I didn’t quit. God wanted to teach me some valuable lessons about His faithfulness, myself, and my life in ministry.

The question is how can we resist the temptation to just up and quit when things get tough?

  1. There is nothing that we will ever have to face alone. Many times, when we face challenges, we feel like we are facing it alone. God promises that he will never leave us or forsake us.
  2. We need to remind ourselves that God can get us through anything we face. Psalm 46:1 is a great reminder “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
  3. We need to learn to ask God what it is that He is trying to teach us in this difficult season. God is always trying to teach us something. Most of the things that He wants to teach us will not come in the easy times of our lives but most can only be learned in the most challenging times of our lives.
  4. Learn to pray the hardest when it is the hardest to pray. For some reason when we are facing the greatest challenges of our lives, we are tempted to rely on our own strength, and we forget that we have access to the greatest source of power through prayer.
  5. We have survived 100% of our hardest days thus far in our lives and we can survive whatever it is that we are facing today.
  6. God’s timing is everything. When we are tempted to leave on our own time remember to always follow His timing. If he hasn’t opened the door for your to quit early, He may have a reason why he needs you to stay longer than you want to stay.
  7. Find people who will be a source of encouragement and strength. They will help support and encourage you in the toughest times.

These are all things that have helped keep me committed to God’s plan and timing. Over the last 10 plus years, there have been many times that I wanted to quit. As I look back on it now I can see why God kept encouraging me not to give up and just quit. I learned so much about myself and my faith has grown far beyond what I could have imagined it would. It would have been way easier to quit but I wouldn’t have matured in my faith. I am grateful to God for His faithfulness during this difficult season. I wouldn’t be who I am today without this going through this tough season of ministry. It would have been easy to give up and quit but I am glad God kept encouraging me to keep pressing on. I leave you with the words of Paul that brought me so much comfort as I ended this tough season.

2 Timothy 4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

I made it through and so can you my friends.

Chad is the Pastor at Lubeck Community Baptist Church. Chad has been in the ministry for 25 years and has served in many roles including Youth Pastor, Executive Pastor, Discipleship Pastor, and Senior Pastor. He graduated in 2010 with his Masters of Divinity from Palmer Theological.


Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.