It seems that everyone I know these days (including myself) is facing some tough obstacle in their life, and they are tempted to just throw their hands up and say I quit. Some sadly, will even choose to give up on life itself. Sometimes, and often-times people give up right before they see the breakthrough! They give up and the opportunity was right around the corner from them.
I do believe that it was God that led me to write this blog, and that He also showed me the passage of 2 Timothy 4:1-8. Here, we find the apostle Paul nearing the end of his life writing a letter to a young pastor that he mentored named Timothy.
4 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.As tempting as it is to just give up when we are facing an overwhelming situation in life, as believer's in Jesus Christ, we are called to follow His example instead of just going with our own feelings. The apostle Paul's life was a good example of Jesus', for he also showed what it means to not give up. The above passage of scripture was written from a Roman prison, and yet instead of it being about the horrible food he had to eat, being beaten, or just bad-mouthing the Roman authorities that were keeping him there, Paul instead writes a letter of encouragement to young Timothy.
Paul had been through all kinds of hardship in his life for the sake of sharing the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Had he simply chosen to give up then where would we be today as believers in Christ? Because of Paul's perseverance however he continued on missionary journey after missionary journey, and writing letter after letter to the churches he planted throughout the Gentile world. Many times he would come back in a few years to find the work he started in total chaos because the people had followed false teachers, and got into all kinds of immorality. Just look at what a mess the Corinthian Church was, but yet Paul didn't give up on them. In looking at Paul's example we have to ask, what kept him motivated?
I think the answer to this is found in the letter he wrote to Timothy. In verse 7 we see Paul telling Timothy that he has "fought the good fight and has finished the race." Paul also said, "I have kept the faith." Paul then reveals what motivated him to do this when he says, "there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." Paul knew that there would be a reward for his diligence, so he kept pressing on even when the situation looked hopeless.
Paul knew that God was with him, for he was doing the will of God. To see God's will done Paul endured a lot of hardships, as he mentions in his letter to the Church at Corinth.
2 Corinthians 11:22-28 (NKJV)
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.It is easy to believe in God when everything in your ministry, your workplace, your school, or your marriage is going great. What about when the going gets tough though? It is during these times that we must find the strength to endure, and that strength is found in Christ alone.
You may say you are a wealthy, but those riches can be lost in the blink of an eye in this world. Are you placing all of your confidence in your spouse, and none in God? That marriage can end in divorce very easily, but God will never leave nor forsake you. Families can be destroyed, careers lost, a person's physical health can leave all at once.
There is nothing in this world that is 100% stable, except for one thing, and that is Jesus Christ. And giving your life to Him is not a promise that everything will be peachy in life. It is however a promise that you will no longer have to face it alone. Regardless of what you face in this world you have the promise as a child of God of receiving the "crown of righteousness" that Paul spoke of. You have the promise of eternal life and being in the presence of your loving Father, the God of the universe.
Once you realize who God is, then you will suddenly realize who you are. You will finally understand that in light of this, doing His will is what matters most and not doing our own thing, which is often sin. Just looking at what Paul's reaction was once he gave himself to Christ should be sobering enough to us. Paul suffered greatly for the sake of doing God's will, yet he kept pressing on and not giving up.
I say all of this to say that once you have given yourself completely to Jesus Christ, and sought to see His will done in your life, then and only then, can all of the other things be in their proper perspective. God's will for you, first and foremost, is that you become born again, which means admission that you are a sinner, repentance for those sins (which means to turn away from them), and accepting the fact that Jesus' death on the cross at Calvary was the full payment for your the debt of sin, and then making Him the Lord over your life.
This means getting off the throne of your life and giving it to Him. You are giving control to Him, and saying all things are in Your hands Lord. As you then make decisions, speak words, and go about your day to day living, you are doing so with what would be pleasing to Him. This isn't to say you will always be perfect, for we all fall into sin, but now you can confess those sins to Him, and He gives you strength to not fall into them again.
As we show our love and devotion to Jesus for all He suffered for our sake, we won't just show Him our loyalty in the good times of life. We will also remain faithful to Him when we face the hardships that come in life. We will see times of trial and good times too in life. God also blesses His children here on the earth too, but ultimately nothing can be compared to the reward that is to come when we one day stand before Him in eternity.
While Paul was in prison, he said it so well, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). May we also share this same perspective in our lives, and turn our eyes upon Jesus, and see the things of this world grow strangely dim.
God bless all the mothers, and everyone else too... keep pressing on & don't give up...
Happy Mother's Day!
