Don't Give Up!
Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV)
These words, written by the apostle Paul during one of the most difficult times of his life and ministry, remind us that no matter how bad things may seem, God is at work in your life and mine for His glory and our good.
Have you ever been so discouraged, you despaired of life itself? Paul was. In fact, that is exactly what he tells the members of the church at Corinth leading up to this painful but triumphant declaration found in chapter four, verse sixteen.
“We were under great pressure,” he tells the Corinthians in chapter one. “We felt we had received the sentence of death,” he goes on to say, “so that we despaired of life itself.”
We tend to place Bible personalities on pedestals as if somehow, they were a cut above the rest of us. But the truth is this kind of thinking goes against everything the Bible teaches about how God works in the lives of His people.
“This happened,” Paul goes on to say, “that we might not rely on ourselves but on God.”
Life is tough. Sometimes it is so tough, we wonder if we will make it through some of the struggles and pain we face. But it is in these times that God is calling us to look beyond ourselves, our own abilities and strength, and look to Him.
During the Battle for Britain in World War II, Winston Churchill spoke to the graduating class at Harrow School for Boys in London. Churchill gave what came to be known as the shortest commencement speech in the history of those hallowed halls of Harrow.
“Young men,” exhorted Churchill, “Never, never, never, never, never give up!”
That was it, all the Prime Minister of Britain had to say. And it was enough.
“I can do all things through Christ,” Paul would later write while imprisoned in Rome and on trial for his life. He penned these words after sharing a lesson he had learned only after many years - “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances of my life,” he told the believers in Philippi. (See Philippians 4:10-13)
It’s not easy learning to live where we are when life is falling apart around us. But as we look beyond ourselves and look to God, we find the strength we need to persevere in the worst of times.
Regardless of how hard things may be, let God renew you inwardly, day by day, and whatever you do, don’t give up!
In Christ,
Dan