"And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up." -Paul, the Apostle who got beaten, shipwrecked, & imprisoned as often than any other non-criminal I've ever heard of.
I remember as a kid that sometimes, I wanted to quit some certain activity mid-season. Usually it was some activity that had caused my parents to part with money in exchange for the opportunity to participate. Often, it was with much weeping and gnashing of marbles that I'd convinced them to part with the money. Some days it was piano lessons, or little league baseball, or swim team, or pretty much any other endeavor that was requiring more sacrifice than I was in the mood to make...
Thankfully, my parents never let me quit.
They wouldn't force me to sign up for the next term or season, but I never remember once being allowed to quit in the middle of a season. "You committed to this... yadda, yadda, yadda... your team is counting on you... gurgle, blurble, bloo... I paid good money for this... blah blah blah." (At least I think they said something like that.)
It became engrained in me to not quit in the middle. But there were days when, though I was present, I wasn't really fully engaged. It was too hard, I was too tired, I wasn't having fun... blah, blah, blah.
That's all one thing when the issue is 6th Grade soccer (which I would have never wanted to quit, by the way), but when we're talking about the life God calls us to, there's a whole new dimension at work. Not only can we not quit because Dad keeps dropping us off at the practice field, but because the assignment is from Him. You just can't quit when your Father's the coach!
But there's hope. No matter how tough it gets, no matter how crappy the day, the ministry God gives you comes with all the power and ability you need to get it done. Not only has God given you a job to do, He offers the power of His Spirit to work in your life to get it done.
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