Giving Up

Do you find yourself being tempted to give up before you should? I have to confess I do. Saturday was one of those times. With the Tennessee Volunteers down two touchdowns and having only a couple of minutes to go in the game, I said “it’s over, I’m giving up.” However, I thought “I’ve watched the game this far I might as well stay with it to the end regardless of the outcome.”  But no sooner had those thoughts crossed my mind when the unbelievable happened. Our team scored twice and wound up beating South Carolina by a field-goal in overtime.  It would have been a major disappointment had I changed the channel. Others would have told me about the outcome when I could have seen it with my own eyes.  I’m so glad I didn’t give up. When you think about it, how many times do we lose out because we give up prematurely?  This happens in the natural but also in the spiritual realm. Can you imagine what would have happened if those at the Wedding in Cana had given up too soon; and the loss that would have been incurred if the mother at Nain as well as Mary and Martha had given up before Jesus arrived on the scene? Even more so, what about the paralytic that kept coming to the pool for thirty-eight years? The writer of Hebrews knew the devastation with such a move and admonished his readers to hang in there by saying, “Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.” He was simply saying, “Hang in there. Don’t give up by surrendering your confidence in God who has the ability to change your situation.  The score may not be in your favor but stay with the game. Even though it might require over-time the timing is not important, winning is-- so don’t give up!