Many of the blessings we enjoy today are ours because someone did not quit. From religious freedom and educational opportunities to life-saving medical inventions and vaccines, we are helped enormously by the efforts of those who persisted before us. When suffering or hardship comes and we are tempted to quit, that is just the time to keep trusting in our faithful Creator and press on.
Peter gave words of encouragement to the early church when they were tired and afraid. He said in so many words, “Never quit. Don’t slow down. Don’t stop. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t let hardship or difficulty or temptation or testing get you off the track. You know you’re going to come through if you trust the One who has brought you safe this far.” Peter must have remembered a time when many who had begun to follow Jesus fell away, and the Lord asked His disciples if they, too, wanted to leave Him. It was Peter who answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life, and we have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Once we have begun to follow Jesus, there is nowhere else to go but on with Him. Nothing else makes sense. Nothing else gives life. And no one is worthy of our complete trust but our faithful Creator, who has proved Himself time and again. I like the words of the old hymn, ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus: “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! Oh, for grace to trust Him more.”
MEMORY VERSE
Let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE
Mark 3; Job 5-6