I have one message for you as we prepare to finish 2020 and enter 2021: stay the course.
This has been a difficult year. We’re blessed: others in the past, and others in different parts of the world, have suffered more. But there’s no denying that this year has been tougher than most, and many of us are tired and a little discouraged.
Some of us may need to make drastic changes or significant tweaks. But I suspect that most of us need to hear a different message: keep going. Don’t quit. Don’t give up.
Disheartened
When things aren’t working or get too hard, it’s normal to want to change. And it’s been one of those years in which many of the things we normally do don’t work as well, or at least take a lot more effort for fewer results. Our response is to tweak or give up. I know a lot of people who are tweaking, and some who are looking for the first opportunity to check out.
I get it. In normal conditions this would make sense. But these aren’t normal conditions, so I’m going to suggest we all take a step back from quitting and stay faithful to what God has called us to do.
Paul frequently used a Greek word to express the sense of becoming discouraged and disheartened, and wanting to give up. Paul knew he could give into this temptation, but didn’t (2 Corinthians 4:1, 16). He also knew that his readers would face this temptation too (Ephesians 3:13).
Every time he saw the temptation to become disheartened, he rejected it, and he encouraged his readers to do the same. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up”(Galatians 6:9). “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).
It’s normal to want to give up. Paul tells us how to respond. Keep going. Hang in a little longer. If we persist a little longer, the payoff will come, even if it doesn’t look like it now.
Back to Work With Joy
“Come, brother, the Lord Jesus Christ has blotted out our sins, he has bought us with his blood, we belong to him; and whatever service he gives us to do he will give us the strength to do it,” says Spurgeon. “So let us go back to our work with joy.”
I don’t think Spurgeon’s telling us to ignore the pain. Of course, get the help and rest that you need. I think Spurgeon is telling us to do what he learned to do: play hurt. Don’t quit. Keep going. Learn to take the field even though we may lose this quarter of this game, even if your heart’s not in it right now.
Keep playing. Don’t lose heart. God has not left us. As 2020 ends, and a new, still-tough year approaches, keep preaching. Keep serving. Keep loving. Keep praying. The payoff will come if we don’t give up.