There is a sobering story in Numbers 32:1-5…
The tribe of Reuben wanted to bail on the rest of the Israelites. Read the story for yourself.
- They wanted to take the easy way out…
- They wanted to rest on their current success…
- The journey ahead seemed too much for them…
Perhaps that’s your story today. The journey has gotten much harder than you expected and the days ahead seem unbearable. Some days you would just rather quit trying.
- Are you tired of pushing forward?
- Are you burned out…satisfied…comfortable…afraid…confused?
- Are you ready to quit?
If you know the job you’ve been called to do isn’t finished yet…
Don’t quit…
Find the courage, recharge your batteries, raise up some other leaders…
…But whatever it takes…move forward…
Is that your story? Are you tempted to give up? Leave a comment and others and I will pray for you…
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Thank you very much for this post, I am currently in the process of fullfilling a vision God has given me and it's not easy, it's getting harder..but I will stay encouraged and I will not give up! Thank you so much for your prayers. I need them!
Amen. Praying for you now
Yes. I'm on the fence if it's time for me to leave, or is it just me giving up. While I don't feel like I have the "give up" attitude, I do feel a bit burnt out. I'm unsure if God just wanted me to start the ministry I'm in now, and then hand it over to someone or not. I feel like I'm sowing many seeds, but the harvest is not there. While I don't want to necessarily give up, I feel maybe it's time to.
Be sure to read my post on how to know its time to quit.
Jen,
I just stumbled upon this site, you know, in a continual search to make sense of our own situation.
Let me tell you that you’re not alone. We have a very similar story to yours, very similar. I could write books about what we’ve gone through as a family for following God. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I sure hope we are nearing the end of these trials.
I could write lots, but let me say that we have allowed these extreme difficulties from God shape us & change it. They are intangible treasures that we would never trade. We never could have learned such important lessons without these insurmountable challenges thrown at us.
But, now… our hearts are full of gratitude, we are closer to God & each other than ever before, and we have greatly grown in our trust of God.
Again, we are still neck high in trouble, but convinced that God is using this experience to transform us and prepare us for what’s next. So, we hold nothing back from God.
It’s not easy… and, it’s taken awhile, but I’ve been able to put these questions to rest:
-Is God good?
-Does He have our best interest at heart?
-Can we really trust Him? Really?
-and many others.
There wasn’t much doubt here before, but that wasn’t enough. We can say “yes” to those and other questions with 100% certainty now.
We’ve found treasure we would never trade… but we could still end up in a work of trouble, even as we teeter on the edge now… from little we’ve done, but because of following God. But, we know God is sovereign and has a bigger plan, just like Joseph, and one day, hopefully soon, God will lift us out of this pit and our lives will be restored again. And, we’ll see that God “meant it for good” and gave us everything we need to finish the journey (life).
Blessings to you. You are certainly not alone & never were.
Chris
God has given me a vision. I was working on it for the last 3 months. I shared the vision with few of my prayerful friends. one told make a prayer group, other one told you get a conformation by telling 3-4 people to pray in this matter and once they confirm go on. the third one told you need money to do all this, better concentrate in you job. First your family then comes the ministry.
finally by many opinions I got discouraged and confused.
I am just praying for it.
Just guide me.
Regards,
Thirumalai. p
Yes I feel like quitting I’m unemployed for over a year now night class to study for dealing with people who can’t even say thank you just tired and discouraged from it all
Praying for you now!
my name is Priscilla and I live in GA. God gave me a vision two years ago and I just quit my job to pursue this vision but I feel like I made a mistake. I haven't heard any direction from God and my family…well they don't share the vision with me…Please pray for me. I don't have any money and I don't want to lose my home!
Priscilla I\’m praying now and my readers are great at praying for others too. Keep us posted.
Thanks, Ron. I could use prayer. I only got on board the particular bus that I was riding in because it seemed like God Almighty was insisting. Now I wonder if I "misheard" his call and just want to hop off. Thanks for being willing to pray.
I understand and I will be praying. I do believe though that God works for good even when we hear Him wrong. Prov 16:9. Keep listening!
Thanks so much for this – I truly needed to read those words at this very moment.
Awesome. Love when God does that
That's a great exhortation. Honestly, I think I'm generally doing well in my life journey, but one area where this rings true is the book I am writing. Good grief, talk about a long & hard path with so many temptation to give up! Your prayers are appreciated!
And again, great blog post.
Absolutely. Send me a rejoice note when you finish!
Funny I should find this post today, I am beyond ready to give up! Almost 4 years ago, we moved into our “dream” home. We had great jobs, good friends, hardly any debt… We were set before we were 30! It was fabulous. Then one day my husband and I both just started feeling uncomfortable. The kind of uncomfortable God gives you, just to get you to pay attention. Things just started moving at wharp speed and God laid it on us hard to move out if state and start a new life. We knew he was calling us to something special, but we didn’t know what, and still don’t!
But after fasting, praying and receiving conformation… We went! God supplied us with even better jobs and placed us in an area much more suitable for our family. He put us in a church that set us on fire for the Lord! Then he just vanished… Our house took 2 years to sell and we had to short sale. Our credit was destroyed with just that one bad mark. We cashed out savings, 401k’s and even had to live off credit cards and sign a promissory note to repay the bank for the house. Everyone told us to file bankruptcy, but we knew that wasn’t what God wanted. So we pushed forward. I went back to working nights and now have 2 jobs and my husband is very blessed in his job and we have been paying down the debt and worked our credit scores back to a good standing. However, no one will allow us to buy a home. Even with proof the bank is being payed back!
Our family is falling apart. I hardly see my husband and kids these days. The church that set us on fire, burned us and gave us no comfort. My mother in law list her battle to cancer insisting this was still where Hod had something for us! That gave me hope! Then my cousin, whom I was close to, committed suicide and I have questioned my life ever since that day.
I want to give up, I want to be mad at God! I want to know where the life he showed us is and ask him why he gave us such picture perfect visions and then never let us see them fullfilled. But everytime I try to give up, something grabs me and pulls me back. Like our new church, then starting small groups… I know he could restore us in tbd blink of an eye. And maybe scared I’ll miss it if I give up. But each day I battle that feeling, and I just hope I can hang on til he does pour out a blessing!
Thanks, I needed to know I’m not alone. I feel terrible for the way I feel.
Wow! You have developed quite a story and it's easy to understand why you would have emotions of wanting to quit. I'm praying for you and I hope you'll comment back when God turns this for good. Keep the faith! Remember Jeremiah 29:11 was a promise given to the people after God told them there were 70 years of struggle to come. Notice what God tells them to do while they wait!
I so do not believe that things happen by luck. I really believe that God put things in place so that we see them when we need them. I am at that quitting place today. Is my ministry over yet. No way but sometimes they are so hard to keep going. What you said about this being my story today. So true. The journey has gotten much harder than I ever expected and the days ahead seem unbearable. I don't even want to think about going on at this time. I want to quit today. I will not quit because I know that tomorrow is another day and that things will be different. Don't know if they will be better or not but I know that God can grow me during this time. Thank you for sharing.
That's a great part Cindy..the growth that comes through the hard times…Doesn't seem like it at the time, but always worth it.
As a church planter in the Midwest and a tough area, things have been confusing at times. We sent out 40,000 phone calls just last week, had 60 respond and most of those were elderly needing rides to a traditional church. I've got to say it was discouraging. It's also somewhat frustrating at times because it looks like our "planting" will take longer to grow than most.
I have moments that I think "what are we doing!" but know that we are exactly where God wants us and that something big will happen here. So, I'm not really at the point of giving up anytime soon but rather could use prayer for continued strength if it takes much more time!!
I look at missionaries who spend years on the field just to see one soul won to Christ or a village transformed and am amazed! It's also kind frustrating when denominations, conventions, authors, etc suggest HUGE LAUNCHES when sometimes it's just not feasible or meant to be in some parts of the country or culture.
All that to say, thank you for the words of encouragement. Although I may not be at the point of quitting and am still dreaming, i believe there are many who are probably ready to give up! Your words and prayers are a big encouragement for many who feel scared and/or alone.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Steve. I recently went to a big conference, with really big name speakers from mega churches. The thought occurred to me that a lot of the principles they were sharing weren't as practical for churches like yours. Thanks for staying faithful even when it's tough. Praying for you.
God planted in me the desire to pursue work at a well-respected Christian organization….I haven't had any luck yet but everytime I apply anywhere else, I end up going back to that webpage. I have taken a lot of chances to get out of my comfort zone. Call me crazy but my dream just keeps on chuggin.
Thanks Bethany. Keep chuggin!
Twitter: joe_sewell
says:
Been there, done that, still there and doing it. God has given me a vision to write … probably 1 or 2 or more books, plus devotional thoughts and whatever else comes to mind (including comments on other people's blogs
). I do feel drained, though, of the ability to do that, as well as the ability to do my job (I'm a software engineer), the ability to be a good husband … sometimes I feel like I've been drained of the ability to live.
Praying for the draining sensation to be replaced with passion and energy
OK, so it's not a ministry or anything, but in my personal life I'm at that point where I want to just give up in a situation. I know I heard God's voice in it, but right now it sure looks like I was just eating pizza too late one evening.
Have to say, folks like you and a couple other bloggers have given me enough to keep my head above water the past couple of weeks… which is more than I can say for my local church. :^(
My dad now must bed rest for 24 hour bcoz of wrong operation n its been 6 years n still continue. The medic n doctor in indonesia can do nothing bout this. My dad must take pain killer every day. N so this life make me stress. I must work for all the family needs when the end of the month come n my money also come to the end.
I like what’s bible said bout abraham: he still believe in God even there is no reason to believe.
That's a great encouragement. Thank you for sharing!
Leaving a comment here would imply that I read this post because I was a bit discouraged about something. So I won’t leave a comment…well, other than saying thanks.
Thanks.
I understand….best not! Thanks for not leaving one.
I felt it not once, thousand times. But my wife says I am never a failure until I quit trying….
Your wife is a genius!
Thanks Ron! Ironically enough (not!) I was just sitting here wondering if I am pursuing the wrong dream and thinking about giving up. This is truly a word in season. God bless you!
Awesome. Love when God does that! Thanks
I left a university degree and a job with the market leader, to start a competing church software venture, to service a market that has yet to emerge in my own country.
Understandable there are days when I question those choices and whether I should be pursuing it with such passionate conviction.
Personally, the problem isn’t a fear of quitting; instead it’s of diluting my vision and sacrificing a dream just to play it safe.
I will be praying for you. Pray God keeps stretching you and shows you great success.