We all have them. Believe me, I know it.
Honestly, at the time that I am writing this post, I am having a moment. An episode. A day.
A day that I want to quit.
I want to quit everything. My goals, my relationships, my ministry. But I won’t.
Know why? Because I trust that God will carry me through the next few hours/days of this funk, pull me out of the muck and mire that describes my current state and restore my heart to “overflowing cup” status.
Let me set the stage for you. Nothing exceptionally ridiculous has happened. Yes, my beloved husband is gone for an army school across the country for a couple of months. Yes, a couple of days after he left, baby girl got sick. And yes, I got sick a couple of days after that.
So I have spent the better part of today on “Mommy coast mode.” I’ve not been doing anything remarkable or outstanding. After some prayer, I canceled my planned workout and opted for a long nap while baby slept.
The day is almost over for me today, and I still have little inkling to quit. I didn’t want to write today. And I really hope that this post encourages your heart on days that you want to quit. But in all honesty, this post is more for me… To help me regain perspective, put some God words on digital paper.
Because it is my policy to write real and write encouraging. Even if I am the only one that needs to hear it.
So when we have one of those days and we want to quit, here’s a few steps on how to handle it.
1. Pause, but don’t quit. For the better part of today, I have been lounging… Trying to pray, reaching for a renewed perspective, even resting. My brain was telling me to quit. But my G0d heart said to pause. When we take a moment to pause, God can offer clarity. Perhaps we have too much on our plate and need to weed something out. Maybe we’ve been going too hard too fast for too long. We might be shirking on our time with Him and filling it with other stuff. Or it could be that Satan has snuck in and got ahold of our heart. (See upcoming point #2.) Whatever the reason, it’s so important that on those quit-inclined days, we pause… but don’t quit pursuing God.
2. If Satan is your reason for wanting to quit, acknowledge it and fight back. This is my big one. Very rarely are these “Quitty McQuitterson” ideas from God or even my flesh. And here are a few things you need to know about Satan as our enemy: 1) He is a HUGE jerkface 2) He does not fight fair 3) He will come after you in your weakest moments (sick, tired, frustrated, lonely, etc.) and 4) He is the master of all lies. Like today. For some stupid reason, I gave half an ear to the lies of Satan and they made my way to my heart before I could say “What the what?!?” He was telling me that I was going to fail. Fail at everything. Motherhood. As an army wife. As a minister. As an author. Fail, fail, fail, fail, FALSE!!!!
He is so wrong, my friends– about me AND about you. God has placed specific roles in our life for a reason, and success in God’s eyes might be different from what success means for us. Trust him with that. And when you start to hear those sneaky lies of the enemy, you have my full permission to shout out loud (or in your head if you are in a crowded area of strangers,) “IN THE NAME OF JESUS, GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN… OR I WILL CUT YOU.” (You don’t have to include that last part if you don’t want to.)
3. Know (and embrace) that tomorrow is a new day. PRAISE GOD for His new mercies each morning. On days like today I so look forward to bedtime. Not just because I am exhausted, but because I know that tomorrow is a new day. God has it all planned out and it won’t be exactly like today. (Thank you, Jesus.) Yes, there still might be struggles, but if we are actively following Christ, tomorrow means we are one day deeper into a relationship with Him and one day closer to heaven. What an encouraging thought.
Well. Now that I have almost totally dumped my heart (and brain) in the post, I feel much better. I could keep writing additional tips and thoughts to encourage you for the days you want to quit, but I am sure I will need to use them for another post. (Probably more for me, not for you.)
So friends, if you are having a day and you are like, “DUDE. I’m OUT!” take heart and know that Christ is with you and He overcome the world. For even on those days that you want to quit, God never stops loving you. He keeps going and going and going…
Never quit,
“Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God.” ~Psalm 27:14 MSG
When you want to quit… Keep going for God.
Linking up today with my sweet friend Beth over at Three-word Wednesday and also with Walking Redeemed. Oh! And be sure to join our #EverydayJesus link-up community right here at 7 Days Time every Thursday!
