It was Saturday afternoon and all the petrol stations were closed. Yet, we felt confident we could make it 30 miles to the motel where we normally stayed. Our fuel gauge registered just above the empty mark when we left Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. Within 15 miles the gauge dropped below empty, but with no other choice I continued driving. Arriving just after dark, we were praising the Lord as we pulled up to the motel, but then startled to discover the motel had shut down. “What now?” we pondered. Too far to turn around! Sleep in the truck? I remembered another small town with a motel and fuel about 20 miles further—or so I thought. We kept going.
Believing we were nearing our destination we encountered a military checkpoint. The officer wanted to know what we were doing traveling in the bush at 1:00 AM on Sunday morning. I explained our dilemma. His response was anything but comforting. “The next village with a motel is 20 miles ahead. Only bush until then.” I found it strange he said 20 miles instead of 35 kilometers as I stared at the fuel gauge. Miles or kilometers didn’t really matter, we’d been driving below empty for the last 50 miles. Down the road I told my wife. “We’re probably spending the night in the bush with the baboons, elephants, and lions” With far more faith than me she replied “No, I’ll pray the Lord will multiply our fuel as He did the five loaves and two fishes.” The logical part of me thought, “Multiply what fuel, we don’t have any.” I don’t know what God did, but the next morning after a good night’s rest at the Orange Blossom Motel, I went to fill up. My truck held 25 liters of fuel. I put in 26 liters.
To paraphrase a quote from Winston Churchill, ‘when you’re going through troubled times, keep going’. We had several opportunities to give up and quit. I’m thankful we didn’t give up, turn around, or stop. We just kept going. Through the years, I emphasized to students “the only way you can fail God is to quit”. It’s not important to finish the race first. What matters is that we finish. We have probably all felt like quitting sometimes when troubles and stress overwhelm us. Woodrow Kroll, Bible teacher and author said, “Our quitting point is God’s beginning point.” I won’t say you can’t quit, but I can say with confidence God is going to do everything possible to keep you from quitting.
Three times the Apostle Paul became overwhelmed with fear to the point God intervened. In Corinth the Lord came and told him to stop being afraid; again, after his arrest in Jerusalem the Lord stood near Paul and told him to take courage; and on his journey to Rome a storm battered their ship for days. Luke, who was with him and wrote they gave up all hope of being saved—this included Paul. Once again, God sent an angel to tell Paul to stop being afraid. Often, we overlook these verses. We tend to see Paul as the great invincible Apostle. Not so, his circumstances beat him down more than once. The context and grammar of these verses indicate he was afraid, discouraged, and wanted to quit.
I have reached the point of quitting many times. Once exhausted and tired of being told I needed to revise certain portions, I threw my doctoral dissertation in the trash. My faith filled wife retrieved it telling me she had too much invested in my education for me to quit. She put it back on my desk and told me to get to work. I guess she was my angel.
Probably the best example of God’s reaction to someone trying to quit was Elijah. After a stressful and grueling confrontation with the prophets of Baal, plus a threat from Queen Jezebel, he went into the wilderness, sat under a tree, and asked God to take is life. Note God’s response—the Angel of the Lord came, fed him, and gave him a jar of water. Again, he came a second time, “Arise, eat”. The Angel told him why, “Because the journey is too great for you.” The journey of life can also be too great for us. I wasn’t sure we would make it with an empty tank but kept going. So, keep going through your troubled times. However, if you’re overwhelmed and try to quit, the Lord will be there helping you get up and back on your journey. Paul assured us, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6 NIV).
Sustaining Word for the Week:
If you’re going through troubled times, just keep going. And be assured if you become exhausted and overwhelmed, the Holy Spirit is with you to provide what you need to get up and to go again.