The Bible Answer
September 28, 2009
“The I Feel Like Quitting Blues”
This question comes from A.W.W. of Washington county: “In the church where I attend there is a lot of backbiting, fighting and strife, there is opposition to everything I attempt to do, I feel like quitting. What am I to do?”
Thanks A.W.,
Join the club. Most of the folks I know, including myself, who are trying to operate within the structure of the local church have felt like quitting at one time or another. We expect there to be light and dark struggles out in the world, (John 3:19, Light has come into the world, but man loves darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone that practices evil hates the light.) It is baffling when we experience it in the local church community. We feel we should all have the same mind, goals, aspirations and expectations. (Philippians 2:2, God and Paul say, Fulfill my joy, be like minded having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.) The struggles we experience come from the realities that some are still walking in darkness, yet trying to work in the church. Some don’t have the spirit of submission that gives us the ability to love and have one mindedness. Then, we must never forget the reality of there being a Devil loose on the earth, which still has the ability to sway and influence people even Christians, to slow or stop the work of the church. See Matthew 16:23. Our longing to quit comes from the constancy of the battle, the never ending pursuit to keep the high standards of holiness and clarity of purpose, the struggle to protect our vulnerable and weak and the fight to keep unity among people with varying backgrounds and ideologies.
The “I quits” can stem from our own frustrations with ourselves over our own faults and short comings. To win against the “I quit blues” you must remember it’s a mind thing. So, renew or replenish your mind with God’s truths, Romans 12:2. Work on adjusting your attitude to resemble that of Christ, “Let this mind, this attitude, this kind of resolve be in you.” Philippians 2:5-11. Take your eyes off the storms and those that cause them, and look to Jesus.
The USPS has a motto, “Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” We should take a similar motto and not let anything stop the work of the cross. Peter walked on water, Matthew 14:29-31, until he considered the storm. We too are called to extraordinary things with our eyes stayed on Jesus. If you have identified your God given calling in an area and the work is consistent with the vision of the leadership, you should not quit under the pressure of evil voices. You shouldn’t give up because someone seems not to like you; these are not the motivators to follow. Be motivated by the examples of Jesus who went to the cross to complete His work, and of Paul who said, “I fought a good fight, I finished my work.” II Timothy 4:7. Be motivated by the promise that if you continue the field work, you will bring a harvest at harvest time, if you don’t quit.
Make short goals so that you can measure and see your progress. You may find that you are being more successful than you thought, even under pressure. Renew your mind, take your Sabbath’s rest, refocus your attention and don’t quit.
If you have a question look to God for the answer, “It’s in there”. And, if you can’t find it ask the Bible Answers is here to help you.
God Bless you,
Dock Williams Jr.