The Tragedy Of Giving Up

When we are going through the trials of life, it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I realize that is cliché. The stress is often so painful we want to give up. Quitting should never be an option. Those that quit have guaranteed their failure to see what their endurance would have shown them. Tough times are designed to test us for sure, but the pain of our trials if we endure them is building us up and making us stronger. The gospel group Commissioned captured this well in one of their songs, “One Step After Another”

Trials of life can be a teacher for us if we do not just look at them negatively although the trial itself is negative. Trials come to us from the Lord, and trials can come from the devil. We suffer trials due to our own sins, and we can suffer trials from the sins of others. We are not responsible for the sins of others, but unfortunately we can become collateral damage because of their sins. Remember, be careful who you keep company with. Bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor 15:33).

In 1 Peter 1:1-9 we read:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood;

Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Wow! What glorious revelation Peter gives to his readers! These nine verses sum up the Christian life from beginning to end. God called us according to His foreknowledge (Click on the link for an understanding  of God’s foreknowledge in another article). Because we are saved, the scripture says we have a living hope. The word hope means an earnest expectation. Biblical Hope is something that is guaranteed to happen – nothing can thwart it. Our salvation is under lock and key in heaven. No one can steal it nor can we lose it.

Jesus gave this encouragement to His disciples and by extension all believers, “Men are to always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1). In Galatians we read, “Let us not be weary in doing good. For at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9).

Do you see the key to our success here in Galatians 6:9? Paul said that we MUST endure in doing what is good. It is important that I quote verse eight, “Whoever sows to please the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. This verse leads into verse nine which again tells us not to be weary in doing what is good – sowing to the Spirit and not the flesh.

The Israelites die in the wilderness due to unbelief

In the book of Numbers chapter 13 Moses sends out twelve spies to check out the land of Canaan. For forty days they survey the land and bring back a report to Moses. They reported to Moses the land is indeed a land of milk and honey. They brought some of its rich fruit. Caleb one of the spies said that they should take possession of the land immediately for they were capable of doing so (vs 30). Ten of the spies out of fear deliver an evil report to the people; because of the sons of Anak dwelt in the land. The Anakim were giants (vs 33).

The people ignored Caleb’s report and listened to the fearful spies. They cried and complained and said they should return to bondage in Egypt. The other faithful spy Joshua warned the people not to rebel against the Lord since He is with us. Be courageous and let’s take the land. The result of this is that none of the older generation would enter the land but would die in the wilderness. For the forty days the spies were in the land of Canaan, God made a year; 40 years they would spend in the wilderness until all of them died. Only their children along with Joshua and Caleb would enter (Num 14:31-44).

Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested Me. They tried Me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation. I said, they are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways. So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter My rest (Psalm 95: 7b-11).

 

 

Because the children of Israel were fearful of their enemies, they refused to take possession of God’s blessing, sinned by disobeying the Lord and said they would return to Egypt. At the end of the day, they could not return to Egypt, and they could not enter Canaan. Since they rebelled against the Lord by giving up, He pronounced death.

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n the book of Revelation the Resurrected Lord Jesus commands John to write to seven Churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Rev 1:11). This is what John wrote to the angel at the second Church Smyrna:

 These are the words of Him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. “I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich (rich in faith, parenthesis mine)! I know the slander of those who say they’re Jews are not but are of the synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are to suffer. I tell you; the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you life as a victor’s crown” (some versions say, and I will give you a crown of life). Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt by the second death (Rev 2:8-11).

John has been banished to a small Island called Patmos when he wrote the seven letters to the seven Churches is Asia (Now modern Turkey). John wrote these letters at the end of the first century. The reason that I focused on the Church at Smyrna was because they were the persecuted Church. To one degree or another we as believers can relate. The key words John used were, “Be faithful unto death and you receive the crown of life.” Our reliance and trust in God have to be all or nothing! We cannot give up on God. We have to be faithful – even if it kills us!

This was Job’s resolve when enduring his trials, “Though He (the Lord) slay me, yet I will trust Him” (Job 13:15).

It’s all good anyway, right? To live is Christ. To die is gain (Phil 1:21).

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-3).