Quitting

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When I was younger, if something got too hard, I would often find a way to quit. As a result, I missed out on some valuable opportunities because I didn’t persevere when things got tough. Because I’m a typical parent, I don’t want my children to make the same mistakes I made, so I rarely let them quit anything. If they begin it, they know they're in it until the end of the season, year, or other applicable measure. Lately, I’ve thought about this tendency man has to quit when things get hard as I’ve studied the return of the exiles to Jerusalem after their time in captivity in Babylon. Because the workers let adversaries and hardships scare them away from their work, it took many years to rebuild the temple and city walls. According to the book of Ezra, God’s people were discouraged and frightened and their work was frustrated (Ezra 4:4-5). God had been speaking to them through multiple prophets, yet the builders got discouraged and quit when things got tought. God had already told them through Zechariah that He would be a wall of fire around Jerusalem and the glory in her midst (Zech. 2:4), yet their fears and selfish pleasures warred against the call to finish the job they had begun. As a result of their disobedience to complete the task at hand God caused a drought and sent famine on the land (Haggai 1:7-12). Twenty years into the rebuilding project, Nehemiah commented that the remnant of Jews in Jerusalem was in great distress and under reproach and the wall was still broken down (Neh. 1:3). Amazingly, once the people regained their focus, they finished the project in 52 days, even with strong resistance (Neh. 6:15). What made the difference? I think it was Nehemiah’s brokenness and the subsequent desire God placed on his heart to complete the wall. God stirred his heart to organize and encourage those who had previously lost sight of their goals. Sometimes we lose sight of the finish line and quit. When we quit, we miss God’s blessings, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Like Paul, we should be able to say at the end of our lives that we have "fought the good fight" and "finished the course" (II Tim 4:7). The reward is well worth it.

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