What is it God has prompted you to do, but now you want to quit? What is it you were once passionate about, now you’re just over it? This is too hard … It’s taking too long … You don’t feel good enough to continue …

But, God’s not letting you go, is he? He hasn’t released you from this prompting. He hasn’t dismissed you from his calling.

You know how Facebook memories show you things you may have forgotten? Do you ever see some of the stuff you posted and kinda hate the former you? Girl, look how far you’ve come! Look at the stupid years God pulled you through. Yesterday, my Facebook memories showed me that 8 years ago I made the official announcement we had cancelled future BIG Life Retreats. We had been doing it for 5 years, and those were some hard 5 years. There were always more expenses than there was money. There was drama. And I was done. So, I quietly quit over time and resigned myself to ending this whole dream God had planted in my heart.

Cancelled. Dreams, cancelled. Desires of the heart, cancelled. I quit.

Then, let me tell you what happened … It multiplied. The fire grew within me and I just couldn’t quit. The dream was revived and passion was reignited. We went from 2 retreats a year to 6 retreats a year, then 8, then 10, and more and more.

Just when I had dismissed myself from his calling, he increased it. Just when I thought I was released from this prompting, he doubled down. He didn’t let me go. He didn’t let me quit. But he sure let me feel hopeless for a bit.

Is it fair to say God lets us feel hopeless sometimes? Is it fair to say he lets things get worse before they get better? Can God handle our despair? Can he handle our frustration? Can he handle our cries of “I’m done. I’m quitting.” Oh absolutely! Let me show you what God does.

Jeremiah was a chosen prophet of the Lord. From the very beginning, Jeremiah questioned being good enough for what God had called him to do. Jeremiah 1:4-9 is a conversation he has with God.

“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.”

God created Jeremiah for this mission. He was set apart before he was even born. So was I. So are you. You were born for this. Created for this purpose. Appointed by God Almighty for his good works. God himself will put everything within you that you need. It won’t be your words, your strength, or your ideas. It will be God working within you. You are to go everywhere he sends you and do whatever he prompts you to do.

Easy enough, right? Wrong. It won’t be easy. It won’t always feel good. It won’t always work.

Jeremiah was absolutely hated. He delivered messages of God’s warnings to the people who had gone off the rails in their crazy living. They were worshiping another God and burning their children as sacrifices to that God. So God put very specific harsh warnings into the mouth of Jeremiah to speak. Every time he spoke, he was hated more. He was beat, thrown in prison, and threatened.

This wasn’t easy. It didn’t feel good. And it sure didn’t seem to be working.

Finally, Jeremiah has had enough. This is his moment of quitting, giving up, and walking away. Jeremiah 20: 7-8, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.”

Maybe you’ve said words like these. God, why did you bring me here, just to make it worse? Why did you trick me into this mess? I don’t want this!

What is God’s response? There’s no record of God speaking, but Jeremiah shares what he feels within. He says in verse 9, “But if I say, “I will not mention his word, or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”

Jeremiah felt it … God wouldn’t let him quit. Just like God wouldn’t let me quit when I most wanted to, and even declared to the world I had. And if God isn’t letting you quit, then it’s because he has plans that reach beyond this moment of hopelessness. Jeremiah just couldn’t hold it in, no matter how much he no longer wanted to speak about God and share God’s harsh warnings with the people. God made it impossible for him to quit.

I’m going to be that friend in your life today … that friend who prays God will make it impossible for you to quit on the plans he has for you. God, stop her from stopping! Make your plans for her like a fire in her heart that consumes her if she holds it in.

Verse 11, Jeremiah comes back and says, “But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior.”

Yes, there’s that faith again. There’s that fight. The Lord is with you like a mighty warrior. See him standing right beside you in this. He’s got you.

So, Jeremiah has snapped out of it. He’s thinking right again. He has his resolve to continue, even though it’s hard. Verse 13, “Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.”

Alright, now Jeremiah is praising God again. He’s regaining his strength. Then here comes the next verse. Oh dang. Verse 14, “Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!”

You know what this is? This is the real fight of walking in God’s purposes. These are the real ups and downs no one talks about. It’s not always going to be easy, and it’s not always going to feel good. You’re not always going to win and it’s not always going to work.

BUT GOD!

God is still standing by you like a mighty warrior. He is still calling you back to his purposes for your life. Just because Jeremiah was having a moment of quitting, doesn’t mean God quit on him. Just because I quit, doesn’t mean God let me quit. And just because you think you’re quitting, well … that might change.

Jeremiah went on from his cursing the day he was born to write one of my favorite scriptures. A message from God in Jeremiah 29:11 that says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

A promise spoken to Jeremiah from a God who stood beside him as a warrior. A promise to be shared with you and I. Coming from a man who wanted to quit, but God didn’t let him quit. Now, shared with you today, from a girl who did quit, but God still didn’t cancel his good plans.

This isn’t going to be easy. There will be ridiculously hard days. But God still knows what he is doing and he can be trusted! He can handle your frustration and your despair. Let him have it. Literally, give it to him. Don’t drag it around with you. Jeremiah got it out, then he moved on with the next thing God told him. We can do the same.

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