DON'T QUIT -February 26, 2022

Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel or throwing your hands in the air and declaring “I’m done? Do you feel like you can’t take it anymore and you just don’t have the energy to “keep on keeping on?” I think we all feel this way at one time or another. I know I can feel this way almost every day of the week.

If you’re not fighting your health, it may be your finances or your job. Maybe you’re struggling with an important relationship or the loss of a loved one. Whatever you’re fighting, you may feel like me, that your best efforts sometimes don’t show results, or at least they haven’t yet. I can be so impatient and often wonder if all the work is worth it.

On Friday I had annual cleaning at the dentist. No problems with my teeth, a clean bill of health. That’s what the dentist said but my body had other ideas. It decided to give me a headache, a mouth on fire and pain in my limbs and feet. I already have my knee taped in physical therapy, to try to alleviate a ridiculously tight IT band. I haven’t been able to walk correctly for weeks. Nausea set in, and despite my best efforts to fight it all morning, I landed on the couch for the afternoon. I didn’t go quietly, I never do. I went through all the usual recriminations in my head, “Just when I think I’m getting better, another thing knocks me down,” or “When am I ever going to get a break and feel better?” or my favorite, “This is never going to end, I give up.” It’s exhausting fighting pain. And I absolutely hate it when I can’t do what I want to do. The perfect example of an adult temper tantrum!

This morning is a new day. I opened one of my daily reading books and the nameplate I had put on the front-page years ago jumped out at me:

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill

When the funds are low and the debts are high

And when you want to smile but you have to sigh

When care is pressing you down a bit

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit

Success is failure turned inside out

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt

And you never can tell how close you are

It may be near when it seems afar

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit

It’s when things go wrong that you musn’t quit.

-unknown

I took it as an answer to prayer. God always seems to know what I need to hear or read, exactly when I need it.

“God will bless you if you don’t give up when your

faith is being tested, He will reward you with a

glorious life, just as He rewards everyone who

loves Him.” -James 1:2

I for one, am counting on that!