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You see, we all fight battles. For some people it is a battle with our weight, while for some others it is the battle of addiction, and yet for others it is a financial battle. These issues seem to be with us always and it is always like we cannot get rid of them. There is however a battle that is more deadly and that is the battle for our minds. This battle is usually a battle between our spirit and our flesh for our souls. Whenever the flesh overcomes many consequences can result. One of these consequences is a complete lack of will to do anything.
I believe that all of us at one time or the other have had some of this lack of will moment when we feel down or depressed. Sometimes it becomes so bad that we want to give up or quit. In the heat of our moment we will say, “I am done!” – Let me just leave their job for them, or I am tired of this Church, or this family, or that group. The worst is when someone says, I am going to end it here and now, this world is not worth living for me anymore. Well, many people have felt like this in days of old, but we should remember what Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10: 13 – “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” It is common that the feeling will come, it is also common that the feeling will be overcome. How do we overcome if we quit before we overcome? We must not quit; we must keep on keeping on.
Apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:15 says – “So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less?” But, at the point he wrote this letter he had been beaten and jailed at Philippi, was persecuted at Thessalonica and Berea, and ridiculed in Athens. Now, there is no doubt he was at a low point when he wrote his letter to the Corinthians. He could have quit but he did not. But he remembered what the Lord had told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” My brothers and sisters whatever you are going through, it is too soon to quit. We must keep on keeping on.
A poem in the Seed Sowers says, “the moment you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held up for so long”. Yes, the reason you held on for so long is because the journey is worth it. So, why quit now? Let us remain steadfast like Apostle Paul, who said “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” – Philippians 3:14. Paul pressed on because he felt God had called him; he pressed on because he believed he had a goal or purpose to achieve; he pressed on because he knew there was a prize at the end. Brothers and sisters, we must not think about the inconveniences that our circumstances have tabled before us; we must rather think about the call, about the purpose and about the prize at the end and keep on keeping on. We serve a God who is always present with us. His presence will not allow us to quit. Remember that the God of the mountain is still God in the valley. God has a purpose for each of our lives. The purpose He has for us is greater than our circumstances. In any case if we stand firm, He has already made a way for us to overcome our circumstances. Yes, there will be persecution, trials and hardships, but until our work here is done, God is not finished with us yet. The devil will try, man will try, diseases will try, even joblessness will try, but it is only over when God says it is over. It is too soon to quit, brothers and sisters. Our God is ahead of us where He is our guide, He is behind us where He is our guard, under us are His everlasting arms, and above us, if we can just try and look up, is His ever-present self in His cloud of glory! Don’t quit yet, He still has a lot in stock for you. Keep on Keeping on – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya
