Enduring When You Feel Like Quitting
Over the past few months of cycling, I’ve learned a valuable lesson: Go as far from the house as I can before my legs feel like jelly and only then turn around and head home. On the way back, there are several times I want to quit—just pull off the road and sit down. I can’t do that, though, for my house is often still several miles away. I push myself for several reasons: (1) A sense of accomplishment, (2) To keep my heart in good shape, and (3) Most importantly, I need to keep my thighs strong to battle my neuromuscular disorder. I know that if I want to keep walking normally, I need to keep my weight down, swim several days a week, and ride that bike. So, ride my bike I do—even when I feel like quitting.
As Christians, we sometimes—maybe even often—feel like sitting down beside the edge of the road and quitting. And I’ve known my share of disciples to do just that: One couple didn’t like a program the elders had approved, so they quit worshiping God properly; another family didn’t like a truthful sermon I preached, so they went to another church with a more “open-minded preacher;” one deacon allowed sin to creep into his heart, and he left the Lord; another sister allowed concern for her family to consume her, and she became unfaithful. Unfortunately, I could tell you many stories of those who have left our gracious God when they once clung to him so closely, and I’m sure you could tell you own stories.
Even when we feel like quitting—when someone has offended us or when we don’t like a particular truth or when Satan attempts to get into our hearts—we must keep going. In a context of facing intense persecution, Jesus told his disciples, “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt 24:13). Jesus didn’t say that his disciples could endure for a little while and be saved. When I’m on my bike, I must endure to the end—my home; when we’re in the race of life, we must endure to the end—God’s eternal home.
The message of the gospel isn’t simply that we must endure to the end—the message is also that we can endure to the end. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2). The divinely inspired author had just listed the “Faithful Hall of Fame,” and he paints an image of those saints of old surrounding us to cheer for us as we run. Just like a runner chasing a gold medal will be encouraged by the cheering crowd, we can be encouraged by the cheering crowd of those who have walked before us and endured to the end.
The task before us is difficult—there will be many times we might want to throw up our hands and quit. However, we have Old Testament saints cheering us on and we have Jesus to walk beside and with us: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Throughout our journey in this life, Jesus goes with us—that itself is the courage we need to endure to the end and be saved.
This article was originally written by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., for the weekly newsletter at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.