When You Feel Like Giving Up

My son Isaac is a pretty good athlete, and most sports that he tries come naturally to him.  With some reluctance, and after a lot of thought and conversation, my wife and I agreed to let him start playing tackle football when he was 7 years old and in second grade.

He was so excited when we told him that he would be allowed to play.  It’s something that he had wanted to do, since he was about 4 years old.  One of his best friends had older brothers who were great football players for our local youth football program, and his dad was one of the coaches, so Isaac and his friend always talked about playing for the Saxonburg Spartans.

A few weeks before practice starts each summer comes the equipment pick up night, where all the boys from age 7 through 13 are properly fitted for helmets, shoulder pads, other equipment and practice uniforms.  Isaac put on a brave face as he squeezed his head into a helmet for the first time, and felt the pinch on his ears and forehead, but when we got home putting the helmet on and taking it off caused a few tears for the first couple of days.  To get him used to running around in full pads before practice started, we’d do some conditioning and football drills out in the yard each evening.

Finally, the first day of practice came.  For the first 40 minutes, the 7 and 8 year old boys on Isaac’s team were physically pushed harder than they’d ever been pushed.  They ran laps around the field, and did a series of strength and conditioning exercises, followed by a series of sprints.  And it was hot that day – in the upper 80’s. 

As the boys were sent for their first water break, there were lots of tears and looks of panic on the faces of the boys who were playing football for the first time.  For Isaac, it was even worse.  Although he had never had asthma before, he was on the brink of what could only be described as an asthma attack.  He couldn’t catch his breath and was gasping for air, because he was so emotionally worked up.  This was far harder than baseball, soccer and basketball practices and games that he had sailed through with ease since he was 4 years old. 

After my wife and I got him settled down and back to a normal breathing pace, I pulled him aside.  I reminded him that we weren’t making him play football, and that he had chosen to do this on his own.  But I also knew that he was only 7 years old and told him that if this was too hard for him that he could quit and walk away, and we’d sign him up for soccer again.  He insisted that he was going to do this because he wanted to do it.  He wasn’t going to quit. 

The rest of the practice was almost as tough as the beginning.  There were tears from many of the boys, and several of them, including Isaac, had to come to the sidelines for breaks a couple of times.  Each time he would come, I would ask, “Are you sure you want to keep going?  Are you sure you want to do this?”  I love watching my kids play sports, but I also don’t make them play sports.  Sports are supposed to be fun, and if they’re miserable, I’m not going to make them keep going.  But he fought through the tears and the emotions, and made it through his first practice. 

After that first practice, he began to really pick up on the game of football.  By the second game of the year, he was on the field for every snap – playing tackle on offense, linebacker on defense and working on the kick-off and kick-return units.  He was on the field for every snap of every game.  Now in his third season, he’s one of only two 9 year olds on the 9 & 10 year old team that’s a starter on both offense and defense.  And he plays important positions – center on offense and outside linebacker on defense.  Football is his first love in sports now, and as I watch him practice and play, the only thing I can think is that he was made for this. 

And I was the one that wanted him to give up.

That’s a longer story than I usually tell in my blog posts, but I hope you’re still reading because this is such an important concept in our life of faith.  And we see that in today’s reading from Philippians 1.  Philippians has been called the Book of Encouragement because of the circumstances surrounding the Apostle Paul when God spoke these words to The Church at Philippi through him.  You see, the book of Philippians was written by Paul when he was in prison.  And he was in prison because of his faithful obedience in preaching the Good News all over the world. 

Paul is writing these words in the midst of what could have been a time in his life where he gave up on his calling from Jesus to preach the Good News.  And yet we don’t find a single word of pity or regret from Paul.  All we find is encouragement and joy to keep on pressing on in the life of faith when we feel like giving up.

In Philippians 1:6 Paul writes these words to the Philippians: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Those are incredible words of hope and promise for us when we feel like giving up and throwing in the towel.  Chances are very good that the problems and trials that you’re facing are much bigger than making it through your first football practice.  I’ve been praying this week for people in my church and community whose trials are much bigger than this. 

I have a friend who is in his second year of an extremely demanding but important job in education.  His responsibilities are absolutely staggering, and he’s finding that the first year honeymoon where everybody gives the new guy some grace is ending.  I have some friends who have been struggling in their marriage for years.  Despite brief periods of good times and progress, it seems that the hard times and set backs are just as frequent.  I have a friend whose 3 year old grandson started chemotherapy for a brain tumor this week, and the prognosis for his healing is grim. 

These are certainly times when giving up would be understandable.  And yet for the Christian – the person who knows what it means to be called by God to the grace of Jesus Christ – there’s something much bigger going on in these situations. 

Even when we feel like giving up, God doesn’t give up on us.  He is the one who has chosen us (See Ephesians 1) to be in Christ.  He is the one who sees where we are and knows the plans that he has for us.  He is the one who has begun a work of faith in our lives and will continue to complete that work of faith in our lives until we die or until Jesus comes back.

A little later in Chapter 1, even Paul admits that he struggles to maintain this kind of hope and faith in the midst of his trials.  In v.v. 20-24, he talks pretty bluntly about thinking about how wonderful it would be to escape the pressures and trials of this life and to be in heaven with Jesus.  In v.20 he says this: “And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.”

Paul’s overriding goal in life was to bring honor to Christ, no matter the circumstances he faced.  And that should be the goal of our lives as well.  Sometimes there are situations in life in which we just need to walk away and hit the reset button, but sometimes there are situations in life which call for great perseverance and resolve in bringing honor to Jesus above everything else. 

The people whose faith impress me the most are the people who get this and have lived it out. They are heroes to me as they seek to live for the honor and glory of Jesus when everything within them and everybody around them is saying, “Are you sure you don’t want to quit?  We would understand.  It would be easier.”  They are heroes to me as they seek to faithfully walk in faith and believe that God is doing something greater in their lives by making their faith more complete as they endure struggles instead of giving up.

Paul concludes Chapter 1 with these words in v.30, “We are in this struggle together.  You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.”

Every day might be a struggle for you to keep going, to keep walking in faith.  But you’re not alone.  There are other people who have been where you are, and would love nothing more than to walk with you through your struggle.  There are people who haven’t been where you are, but will walk with you and pray with you.  And even greater than that is the reality of the promise of Hebrews 4:14-16 that Jesus is with us and understands the struggle.  And in the midst of your struggle, his desire and his will is to give you grace and mercy from the very throne of God. 

"So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."