Several years ago I read a book called “The Traveler’s Gift.” It’s an excellent little book and I highly recommend it. There’s a chapter where the main character visits a storehouse in heaven. He describes this storehouse as enormous in size. He says he was unable to see from one end to the other and it was as tall as the eye could see. As the angel gave him a tour of this storehouse in heaven he saw degrees hanging on the walls, and deeds to houses, and piles and piles of photos. And then a photo of a boy with very familiar eyes fell in front of him. Curious, he asked the angel who this little boy was.
The angel said, “Well he was yours. You and your wife prayed for him, you begged for a son. But then you gave up. So here’s his photo, in the storehouse of heaven, which holds all the hopes, dreams, and goals that the children of God gave up on too soon.”
All the hopes, dreams and goals that the children of God gave up on too soon.
Now, I have no proof that such a storehouse exists, but Galatians 6:9 tells us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
So I’m left to wonder, what good thing did I quit doing just before a breakthrough came? What was just around the corner if I would have dug deeper and pushed through?
What harvest have I missed because I have abandoned the garden? I let the weeds take over. I stopped caring for what was actually beginning to grow.
What hopes, dreams, and goals were totally possible if I would have kept going?
There’s a quit in me. A quit that has robbed me of more dreams and goals, blessings and opportunities than the devil ever has. This has been my doing. My quit. I’ve given the devil way too much credit. It’s been my quit.
What about you?
Do you feel the sting of regret? The pain of “what if”? Listen to me now, God doesn’t want you to live in the perpetual loop of what could have been. His mercies are brand new this morning and new beginnings are being offered right here today. The quit in you is being introduced to the never ending, relentless love of your savior!
Your garden still welcomes your hands. Your breakthrough still awaits. Growth may have grown dormant over a long hard winter season lacking your care, but you bring the spring with your willing spirit and working hands.
Perhaps there’s not a lot of glory in your daily grind, it’s just a lot of hard work. Life seems to be an endless cycle of do this and that, then repeat. And let me tell you this is exactly what is being used to grow you!
Our God uses tough times, hard work and a daily grind to test our persistence. If your daily grind is wearing you the heck out, if the quit in you is screaming out, this verse from The Message translation is for you, 2 Corinthians 4:16 “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.”
Things may not look like they’re changing around you, but something is changing IN you!
Sister, I want to tell you, God is more interested in who you’re becoming than what’s happening to you. He often allows trials, problems, and trouble in your life to teach you diligence. To teach you determination and build your character.
The trial that you’re going through right now, maybe it’s a test of your faithfulness. Life often tests us to see just how bad we really want it.
What if that’s exactly what this is about … about you actually being ready for that which you seek. About you proving you really want it by not giving up when the going gets tough. About you becoming the person you were created to be by first being humbled, tested and refined in the fire.
Living well isn’t easy. Living up to your God given potential is a tall order. And few of us do.
But what about you? Do you want to taste what God has available for you? Do you want to use up every drop of your potential in this life? Do you want to experience every adventure and every blessing God designed for you?
THEN STOP GIVING UP.
The quit in you needs to sit down and shut up already!
Before you today is an opportunity to prove you’re ready this time. That opportunity is dressed as a normal Tuesday in February. And well, that’s why so many people will miss this opportunity, it doesn’t really appear to be anything grand. BUT IT IS. Today is the next step. Today is the test.
Today is likely NOT harvest day, but it’s digging in the dirt day.
Will you be willing to get your hands dirty?
Will you be willing to drop to your knees and plant your seed?
Most won’t.
Most will miss it.
Most will dream about the harvest of tomorrow and miss the seed of today.
That may have been your story in the past. Looking back you see all the times you gave up too soon. Well girl there’s nothing you can do about that now, other than use it as fuel to get your hands dirty today and dig deep with an unshakable resolve that this time you won’t give up on what God’s trying to do in your life.
Now it’s time to dig out a different translation of the bible. It’s my personalized bible called the PDC translation (that’s Pamela Dee Crim). Galatians 6:9 in the NLT translation we read earlier says “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Now, I simply personalize it by adding my name and making it specific for my situation. The PDC translation of Galatians 6:9 says “Pamela, don’t you give up. You keep showing up every morning. You keep giving your best. Keep writing and teaching, loving and giving. You know what’s right, so do it. And if you do, I’m going to bring you a harvest that’s going to blow your mind.”
That’s my translation. My personalized version of God speaking into my life over my situation. Your challenge today is to take Galatians 6:9 and personalize it for you. Take the meaning of that scripture and apply it specifically to your situation.
Where do you feel like giving up? Where are you growing tired? Insert your name and personalize that scripture. Remember that storehouse in heaven? What if it’s all waiting for you and all you need to overcome is the quit in you.
