The alarm was beeping again, and again I was hitting the snooze. So many times this has happened in the last month, and even though I had the best of intentions in getting up earlier, getting my workout and quiet time in, even sneaking in some work when I’m uninterrupted, and yet I continued to oversleep. Something had to change, and it was me.
I was the one failing to actually get up.
I was the one choosing to stay up too late.
I was the one getting distracted from my vision.
I was the one choosing to give up and quit.
So, I decided to change.
Hear me on this, that doesn’t mean I have changed overnight. And it doesn’t mean that I no longer struggle. But, something my dear friend Jenn said stuck with me:
“Completely embrace the mindset of never quitting.”
When I heard her say that, something clicked for me. At some point in the not-so-distant past, I started quitting. I started giving up. So, I stopped. That’s NOT who God made me to be. I’m a winner and a conqueror, designed for a God-sized purpose and calling right now!
James offers such incredible wisdom on this endurance and faith-building process:
James 1:2-8
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
When you feel like quitting, when your head is already checked out and your body is giving up on you, remind yourself that you are a WINNER. You are a finisher. You will not quit, because this momentary trial has a greater purpose! This test of your faith in the Lord, in your own spirit, in your own body right now is producing endurance. Reach for that smooth, beautiful, polished and perfect result so that your strength will be made complete.
What trial are you facing today?
Press on through the trial, and choose joy in the midst of the pressure and struggle!