Give Up or Keep Going – Which Side of the Fence Will You Fall?

Give up. The words haunt my thoughts – rarely upfront and in my face but mostly whispering from the shadows as a constant reminder that I’m not getting things done.

It’s hard to do what you know to do when you aren’t sure you know what you’re supposed to do. That’s what feeds the call to quit. Why keep going if nothing is working and nothing seems to fit?

The other day, I was sharing with a group about the top aspect of The Abundant Life program my husband and I are building. The number one objection we encounter when talking about a life built purely on Faith is, “But you have to make money somehow.” I even ran into it in the group.

As I was writing this, it dawned on me how funny that statement is. We think we can make money, but we don’t believe God can, or maybe we just don’t believe that He will. But when we were discussing it, I mentioned something my husband said. “You can only sit on the fence so long. Either you fully believe in God and His promises and choose His Way, or you have to admit you believe the world more. If you keep sitting on the fence, you only get chaffed.”

Give up. That’s the pull of the world daring me to trust the world more than I trust God. When you are walking a path you’ve never seen walked before, those words feel loud. They often become physical barriers that halt your journey.

They are very loud right now. When you aren’t seeing results, give up. When you aren’t seeing the opportunities, give up. When you aren’t living the life you expected, give up.

Or maybe it’s more of a give in. Give in to the call of the world that it holds more for us. Maybe it’s give in to the tangible because it’s more real. Maybe it’s give in to the ordinary and expected because at least it’s a path well tread.

Choosing a Side of the Fence

This morning, I woke up healed and determined to take on the day. Then doubt crawled out of the shadows and began pointing out all of my troubled spots – spots I couldn’t do anything to fix within my own power.

But then Jesus. And that’s the key. I’m not in this journey alone. When I climb off the fence and lean all in with God, then I have His power leading the way – going before me and coming behind me. He wins the victory.

Joshua 1:9 promises that we can be strong and that we can be bold always in our place in God, for it is God that is with us, and it is God that goes where we go. All I have to do is stay in Him.

The situations haven’t changed in the visible world, but I choose to believe that the God that literally made all the money in the world has something extraordinary just around the bend of the river.

What side will you choose?

Building Hope Against the Give Up

Read God’s Word.

Nothing feeds the heart faster than the words of love shared by the Father. When the doubts and worries slither into your day, reach for the Word of God to drive them away.

Turn up the praise.

Listen to (or sing out loud) the words of praise and worship music focused on the truth of God’s word. Get up and dance to the words. Move the heart in faith and action!

Want to stay in God’s moment for your life? Check out this blessing from Jeremy Camp:

Be honest with yourself.

Work through the struggles by being honest about the fact they are there. Ignoring them will not make them go away. Face them down – write it out, talk it out, shout it out, but get it out. When you face the doubts, you take their power.

Share with someone.

Talk the process through with someone you trust but not someone who will be burdened by what you share.

Refuse to Give Up

The struggles will appear – sometimes they show up bigger so that the whole world sees them, and sometimes they show up smaller so that only we notice. When they show up, shut them down. Find ways to get beyond what those struggles are demanding should be the focus, and choose to focus instead on the promises we are claiming.

Never give up or give in. Go farther in and farther up by leaning all in to what God has called you to be.