October 3, 2011
I Quit
“The next village with a motel is 20 miles ahead. Only bush until then,” replied the officer at a military check point, also wanting to know what we were doing in the middle of the bush at 1:00 AM on Sunday morning. I found it strange he said 20 miles instead of 35 kilometers as I stared at the fuel gauge that had registered below empty for the last 40 miles. This wouldn’t have normally been a daunting situation. However, in Zimbabwe gasoline or petrol stations close at 1:00 PM on Saturday. Although, I was low leaving Harare, I decided to push on to a familiar motel about 30 miles out of the capital city. It was dark when we arrived only to find the motel had shut down. Turn around? Or try to push another 20 miles to where I thought there was a motel? Of course those 20 miles got us to the military check point. Another 20! We’re going to spend the night with the elephants, buffalo, and lions, I thought. We prayed the entire way that the LORD would multiply our fuel as He did the five loaves and two fishes. And apparently, He did. The next morning after a good night’s rest at the Orange Blossom Motel, I went to fill up. My new 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. I’m thankful that night we didn’t give up or turn around but just kept going. Satan loves for Christians to give up and to quit. Through the years, I continually emphasized to students that the only way you could fail God is to quit. It’s not important to finish the race first. What is important is that we finish.
We all face the temptation to quit at times. I didn’t quit on that dark night in Zimbabwe, but I couldn’t begin to count the others times I’ve wanted to quit and sometimes did quit. Three times the Apostle Paul became overwhelmed with fear to the point God had to intervene. 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 their ship was battered for days by a storm. Luke, who was with him, said that 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 these verses are overlooked. We tend to see Paul as the great invincible Apostle. Not so – he could also be beaten down by his circumstances. 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 I threw my doctoral dissertation in the trash can. Donna retrieved it telling me she had too much invested in my education for me to quit and put it back on my desk. I guess she was my angel. Don’t overlook God’s response to Paul’s discouragement. Three times He either came or sent an angel to Paul.
Probably the best example of quitting is Elijah. After a stressful and exhausting 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 his life. Note God’s response—the Angel of the LORD (Jesus in human form) came and fed him and gave him a jar of water. He even came a second time, “Arise, eat”. The Angel added the reason, “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 with an empty tank, but kept going. So, keep going through your trouble times. However, if you’re overwhelmed and try to quit, the Lord will be there helping you get up and back on your journey.
Sustaining Word for the Week:
If you’re going through troubled times, keep going. But be assured if you try to quit, the Holy Spirit is with you to provide what you need to get up and to go again.