Don't Quit

You see, the thing is this: You must not quit. You may not have seen the victory or received your deliverance yet - but if you quit, you never will. Right now, I am not where I want to be, I have not achieved what I want to achieve, I have not received what I need to receive - WHY WOULD I WANT TO STAY HERE? Here is half-way there and where I want to be is there.

You may be a slave in Potiphar's house, but there is a palace in your future (and I'm speaking spiritually here cuz I ain't no prosperity hawker). You may be far away from your dream, but for sure your dream is not here so don't stay here. You may still be in an Egyptian prison, but there is a destiny ahead for you that can only be fulfilled in Christ - so don't stay here; go there.

Perhaps there is a Goliath standing in your path, standing between you and your crown. Grab a rock and run to the victory because its not here - its there. "But," you say, "what if the giant kills me?" Oh God, I would rather die in mortal conflict with a giant than to wither away in the wasteland of fear. To die on the field of battle with honor is preferable to an anorexic life of fear. Joseph might have died in Potiphar's house.....but he didn't. He might have wasted away in prison, alone and forgotten.....but he didn't. He didn't because Joseph never forgot His dream, and what is more important; neither did the Dream Giver.

Joseph saw his dreams fulfilled because He didn't quit dreaming.
Nehemiah saw the walls rebuilt because he didn't quit building.
Abraham received a son because he didn't quit believing.
Joshua received the victory because he didn't quit fighting......and...........and Jesus secured our salvation because He didn't quit in the Garden. He went all the way to Calvary and the grave!

"Who for the joy that was set before Him endured, despising the shame of the cross......" Jesus didn't quit, He endured and is now seated at the Right Hand of the Father.

I write these words not as the spiritual giant encouraging all the weaklings who stand before me. I write because right now more than anything, my flesh wants to quit. I'm tired and frustrated. There are responsibilities bearing down on me that I don't want to carry, but I have to carry them; because they are mine. I WANT to be on a plane headed to some remote village to encourage church leaders or to start another economic project for the Deaf School in Kenya but for now I must be content with what seem to be endless trips to this doctor or that doctor or the other lab, getting one mother or the other where they need to be. Sometimes I find myself resenting the people that I love and honor with all my heart and I hate myself for it. There are things that should be happening that are not happening and I feel like its my fault. "If only I were a better shepherd, a better leader," I keep saying to myself over and over again.

Now understand me. I do not post this for the purpose of complaint or some perverse need for pity. I am writing because I know there are people who will read these words who are right where I am. Maybe our circumstances are not the same, but the depth of emotion and frustration are exactly the same. I am writing to encourage those who are facing a Goliath; to the one who feels like they are in prison and will never again see the light of day. I am writing to the one who feels that he has been abandoned or forgotten in the scheme of God's purposes - Don't quit! To quit is to choose to remain right where you are and neither of us wants to stay where we are. Instead keep your eyes on the prize that is ahead, press in to the upward call of God. One day you will hold the head of your giant in your hand. One day the prison will open for you and the precious light of deliverance will flood your life. One day the sheaves of wheat will bow down and the fulness of God's purpose (and preparation) will unfold before you and you will realize that it has been worth it all.

But for now, we must serve where we are and do what God puts in our hands to do with faithfulness and determination. "Do not become weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."