Don't Give Up

Joey is crawling. And boy is he fast. He has to be. He has a big sister who can walk to keep up with.

Often times I let Joey crawl behind us without picking him up. Sometimes, this frustrates him. So we encourage him. We tell him not to give up. He smiles his two-toothed grin and pushes forward. Harder, faster and with more determination than ever to catch us.

It is so easy for him not to give up because he knows he will acheive his goals. If only the rest of life were like this. Often at work, I am tempted to sack it all. I might never get to the next level. I could possibly not get a raise despite my best work and gritty determination to get people to pay their bills. And then there are the days I feel like I should just stop cleaning my floors because in five minutes a dog covered in dirt will walk across them. I can't ever enjoy them clean. There are a thousand little examples every day that each of us face when we feel like giving up might be preferable because we can't see the tangible results. The tunnel is long and dark. There is a light at the end, but we're too far back to see it.

I remember as a youth leader in my church's youth group confronting this wall of defeatism from another youth leader. We were on our beginning year's retreat for adult and student leaders and he was obstinate that our work was not as impactful as we thought. He could not see how his testament to God and his faith could ever inspire another teenager and possibly a teenage questioning his or her faith. I remember saying to him all we could do was pray and remember that nothing was ever impossible with God. I never considered giving up just because I might never know if my testimony would inspire someone else to believe. Oddly enough, this young man was one who many felt had the type of faith that would move mountains, and now he wanted to throw it all away. Because he felt he should experience a payoff. I realized then that he was facing Satan down and losing. And my only weapon was to pray.

When I look at little Joey and I tell him not to give up, I say a little prayer that his and Shelby's hearts will always tell them never to give up what is good and right when I am not there to tell them. Because when it comes right down to it, when we give up and begin living a life of compliance to what the world teaches, we are giving in to those forces that work against God. God will never give up on us. We should be so blessed as to never give up on Him.