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"From the
Pastors Study"
Sometimes our circumstances and relationships
are so difficult that we feel like the only option we have is to
quit. We feel like we need to shut down and stop responding to the
trouble, get out of the relationship or circumstances or at least
resist and hope God will remove the difficulty. My friend, there
is another way, God’s way. It is to willingly stay in there and
allow God to shape us into a person that more closely resembles
His Son, Jesus. If you are a true Christian, God will never stop
making you more like Jesus. He will use easy times and hard times.
God is certain He is working good in you. You can be too!
Philippians 1:6 “… being confident of this
very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete
it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
When we are struggling, our emotions sometimes
make it difficult, but not impossible, to respond to difficulty
properly. During these times it will help us respond well if we
begin by remembering some foundational truth from the Bible. When
we remember we are often motivated to move forward in obedience.
Remember…and respond well when you are tempted
to quit.
1. Remember God’s Power. He has the power to do
whatever He wants to do. If He wanted to take away our trouble
instantly He could do it. That means He must have a reason for
allowing this adversity. Don’t Quit!
Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the
God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
2. Remember God’s Plan. God has a plan that
includes good and bad, hard times and good times. It is all for
our good and His glory. Reflect on the good, easy, and enjoyable
times and try to see some of God’s work through them. His plan
includes both. If we refuse to cooperate with God’s plan…we lose.
Don’t Quit!
Job 2:10 “… Shall we indeed accept good from
God, and shall we not accept adversity…”
3. Remember God’s Purpose. His purpose is not to
make it easy for us or simply to make us happy. His purpose is to
make us more like His Perfect Son, Jesus. He uses all things for
His purpose even the hard things or the wrongs of others. It is
not right to seek to get out of the training program just because
we don’t like it or because we think it is too hard. Know He is
using it for good and respond like clay in the hands of a Master
Potter. Don’t Quit!
Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might
be the firstborn among many brethren.”
4. Remember God’s Patience. Sometimes we wonder
if anyone knows what we are feeling and if it is possible to
respond with patient endurance in our circumstances. This is
especially true if we think we are enduring something we don’t
deserve or if someone has wronged us. Could anyone know what we
are going through and expect us to endure with patience. Jesus
knows, He was a man like us…He knows what we feel and He made it
without quitting or giving in to sin. Therefore, we know we can
survive. Jesus is our example. Don’t Quit!
Hebrews 4:15 “ For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all
points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
1 Peter 2:20-21 “ For what credit is it if,
when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But
when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is
commendable before God. For to this you were called, because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you
should follow His steps…”
5. Remember God’s Promise. Sometimes things get
so hard that we don’t think we can take it. We sometimes think our
struggle is so unique that it can’t be overcome. But God, as the
loving Father and all knowing Lord, has promised us that He will
not allow us to have more than we can bear. He is loving, so we
know He means it for our good. He is all knowing, so we are sure
He knows our limits. He is Lord so we have confidence in His power
to control our circumstances and enable us to respond
victoriously. We must be willing. Don’t Quit!
1 Corinthians 10:13
“No temptation has overtaken you except such
as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you
to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation
will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear
it.”
Remember the truth. God is Faithful. He has a
perfect track record. Keep going! Don’t let your feelings and
fears cause you to pull back into sin. You can do it. You can
start by remembering.
Be God’s kind of Person…and don’t quit.
“In everything give thanks; for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 “Through the Lord’s
mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
Pastor Bruce Seivers
Valley Chapel Community Church
Fairfield, OH
Scripture taken from the New King James Version
© 1979,1980,1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
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