What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up

Luke 9:51-62 (New International Version)

Samaritan Opposition

 ⁵¹As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" ⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶and they went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

 ⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

 ⁵⁸Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

 ⁵⁹He said to another man, "Follow me."
      But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

 ⁶⁰Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

 ⁶¹ Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

 ⁶²Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” Somewhere between beginning and ending we’ve all felt like giving up. Discouragement, disillusionment or disappointment, and we felt like saying, “I quit.”

So, what do we do when we feel like giving up? In a word, God calls us to persevere. To persevere means “to persist in any purpose or endeavor; to continue striving for one’s goals in spite of difficulties; to stay on course.” The New Testament Greek word translated “perseverance” is hupomone and means both passive endurance and active persistence that presses on for the goal in spite of difficulties.

Perseverance makes the difference in life between success and failure. Perseverance is more than talent, ability, aptitude and resources.

The Christian life demands perseverance. The gift of faith is free, but the life of faith is a fight. When asked to what level he attributed inspiration to the success of his work, William Faulkner, American author, replied: “Two percent inspiration, 98% perspiration.” The Christians who suffered persecution in China used to have an affirmation: “Christians are like nails; the harder you hit us, the deeper we go.”

One of the most important affirmations of faith is found in Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal.” The watchword of the hour is, Press on!

Press on, there is a:

•  Heaven to be gained
•  Reward to be received
• Dream to be fulfilled
• Finish line to be crossed
• Calling to be answered
• Enemy to be defeated
• Victory to be won
• Church to be built
• Harvest to be reaped
• World to be evangelized
• Kingdom to be established.

If anyone ever modeled perseverance, it was Jesus. His family questioned His validity. His disciples often doubted Him. The religious leaders by and large regarded Him as a fraud. Manny followed Him only for His miracles and never accepted Him as Messiah. Sometimes I think we lose touch with His humanity. He was tempted as we are (Hebrews 4:15). He was rejected (John 1:10). Isaiah said that He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (53:3).Yet, He persevered. In Luke 9:51-62, we see the great model of perseverance Jesus set for us to follow.

I. – Jesus Functioned out of His Will, Not His Emotions (v. 51)

1. Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  He “set (his) face like a flint” (Isaiah 50:7). He was unmovable in His direction and purpose. Jerusalem meant arrest or even death. His disciples tried to discourage Him from taking this course. The fact that He functioned out of His will enable Him to finish what He started. His last cry from the cross was, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
2. The power of the human will. Too often we are led by our emotions instead of our decisions. Emotions enrich our lives, but we cannot make the mistake of letting our emotions rule our lives. The issue is not what you feel but, rather, what you will. It’s not what you feel but what you will that determines your success!!

I am sure that:

• Noah didn’t feel like building an ark – but in holy fear, he built an ark to save his family.
• Abraham didn’t feel like taking Isaac to Mount Moriah – but he arose early in the morning and set out to the place where God showed him. There he learned the meaning of Jehovah Jireh.  
• Moses didn’t feel like going to Egypt and confronting Pharaoh – but he went in obedience to God’s command and saw the power of God displayed.
• Deborah didn’t feel like leading Israel as a prophetess – but she took the challenge and led the nation to victory.
• David didn’t feel like facing the giant Goliath alone in battle – but he took his sling and five smooth stones and declared, “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts” (1 Samuel 17:45).
• Jesus didn’t feel like going to Calvary – but “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross”  (Hebrews 12:2).
• Paul didn’t feel like preaching at the cost of rejection, imprisonment and, eventually, a martyr’s death – but he declared, “I have fought the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7).

When Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug was asked by her coach, Bela Karolyi, if she could do the vault that helped earn the U.S women a gold medal in team competition, she said, “Yes I will, I will, I will.”

II. – Jesus Was Proactive, Not Reactive to Life’s Difficulties.

1. He set out for Jerusalem.  In spite of the cost, He set out; He acted. Had He been a reactor, He would have retreated from the challenge. Let me ask you: What have you set out to be and to do in life? Are you still on course toward those goals, or have you been distracted?
2. Take action in life.  Don’t wait for life to happen. Do out there and make things happen!  - Mohammed Ali was once asked by a young man in college what he should do with his life. The heavyweight champion replied, “Stay in college, get the knowledge and stay there until you’re through. If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”
3. The four lepers teach us that victory comes through action, not passivity: “Why stay here until we die?” (2 King 7:3-11). God started working when they started walking. The victory doesn’t come until we take the action we need to take to make things happens. Maybe it’s time for you to stop waiting and start walking!

III. – Jesus Weighed the Cost in Light of Heaven’s Rewards (vv. 57-62)

The punch line: “No one who put his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Weigh the cost in light of rewards.

Three men that day offered Him three reasons why they couldn’t follow Him. They thought the demands were too great, so they missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime to walk with Jesus.

When we devote our lives to Christ, we can know that there is an eternal reward for us. There are five crowns in Scripture promised to us. The word crown speaks of the victor’s wreath used in the Olympic Games, not a royal crown that belongs only to Jesus.

1. Incorruptible Crown  (1 Corinthians 9:25)
2. Crown of Righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8)
3. Crown of Life (James 1:12)
4. Crown of Glory (1 Peter 5:4)
5. Crown of Reward (Revelation 3:11)

Whatever cost you have to pay to be a disciple of Christ will be rewarded by God in this life a hundred times over and in the life to come with everlasting life!

By Dr. David Cooper - Senior Pastor of Mount Paran 

Church of God in Atlanta, Ga.  -  USA