Don’t Give Up!

In Hebrews 11:39-40 it says, “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.” (NLT)

It’s not easy to live by faith. We live in a broken world. The weather doesn’t work right. Our bodies don’t work right. Our relationships don’t work right.

As Adam was leaving the Garden of Eden, God told him that life would be hard—and it is. There’s a cosmic battle for life going on inside and outside of me. I battle with my own sinful nature. I also battle against Satan himself, who wants nothing more than to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10 NLT).

And, sometimes, it just gets to me. I want to give up.

But in Hebrews 11, God urges me to hang on in faith because he hasn’t forgotten me, and he will fulfill his promises. He promises to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). He promises to take away my tears (Revelation 7:17). And he gives me many other promises throughout his Word.

Hebrews 11 mentions a long list of biblical heroes who demonstrated faith in God’s promises: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Rahab, Gideon, Samson, and others. Though they endured difficulties, they kept going on their spiritual journeys.

Hebrews 11:39-40 says, “All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us” (NLT).

So when I feel like giving up, I need to do more than just hang on. Believe and trust in God’s faithfulness to keep his promises. And remember that God isn’t limited by my time on Earth to fulfill his promises. He has all of eternity to keep his Word.

I need to let those promises give me hope for all that God is doing in and for me—even when it’s tough.

Living by faith involves pain. If I give up when life isn’t going well, I’ll never learn to trust God. I think this is because giving up short circuits his growth process for me. It’s easy to love God and serve him when life is going well. What can I do to trust him when it’s not going well? I need to look back at what He has done in my life up to now! I need to look at His promises in scripture and the examples of others that illustrate this. One of God’s promises that encourages me is from Galatians 6:9 (CEV/DCI) “Don’t get tired of helping others. You will be rewarded when the time is right, if you don’t give up.”