Quitting

Pastor Steve Vaggalis at Destiny Worship Center preached an incredible sermon on Quitting this past Sunday.  You can hear it here.  He said there are two ways to quit.  One is be default and one is by design. Default is when you tell yourself to quit.  Design is when God tells you it is time to quit.  He said there are three reasons we quit by default.  They are because of despair - the absence of hope (despair distorts reality), indifference (which is selfish), or discouragement - the loss of confidence.  We need to quit by design.  Somethings we need to quit, there is a season and time for everything.  "Be relevant, not a relic."  God has designed an end for us, our job is to complete and end well.  Jesus didn't die by default but by design, he had fulfilled his destiny. "It is finished" John 19:30

Today I was walking around the dunes and the beach and saw these palm trees.  You can tell they have been beaten down and battered by storms, wind and rain.  Their trunks bent, twisted and deformed.  Their roots are exposed to the elements and vulnerable to being damaged even more.  They are weighed down with the old baggage of dead foliage.  But even with all that, you can see green coming out the tops, their roots obstinately clinging to the shifting sands.  They still have a purpose on the dunes and they didn't give up, they are there, until by design, it is time for them to die.  And yes, I know that a strong enough storm could take them out, but when they go it won't be because they were too discouraged to keep growing. So often when we are beat up by the storms and raging winds, our feet slipping as we strive to find solid ground, feeling the weight of our past, bowing down low to the ground we just want to quit. But at this point, what you choose to do next is so critical.  It all reminded me of the sermon. Don't despair, don't be discouraged.  You are never beyond a comeback! God can do the impossible.  Hang in there!    

Dear God, may I never quit by default, but only by Your design.  May I finish my life strong and end well.