May 24: Hang In There

Jesus, in talking to His disciples about the end of times, warned of persecution and wars and natural catastrophe. And then He said, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13)

Notice He didn’t say, “Whoever has the most ‘stuff’ will be saved.” Or “Whoever is most popular or famous will be saved.” The one who endures will be saved. The one who doesn’t quit will be saved. Woody Allen says, “Eighty percent of success is just showing up.”

Jesus encourages us not to quit, not to ‘throw in the towel’, not to lose heart and stop. There may be times when you feel like giving up—on your job, your marriage, on life, on your faith. Maybe today is one of those days when you feel like saying, “Enough! I can’t do this anymore.”

Feel Jesus slide in next to you; hear Him whisper encouragement as you glance at His nail-scarred hands, “Don’t quit. You can do this. You’re almost there. You can go the distance. You can finish this thing. Don’t give up—victory is closer than you think. Don’t stop.”

Rely on Jesus for counsel and encouragement and you can say with the Apostle Paul, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

I love the scene in the moving “Facing the Giants” where the blind-folded football player is challenged by the coach to do the “death crawl” on his hands and feet (no knees touching the ground) with another player on his back. “Just one more step. You can do it. Just a few more yards.” What the player thought was a 50 yard “crawl” turned out to be the length of the entire field.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2) You can’t see your finish line, but you can endure more than you ever imagined. Hang in there. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Go the distance.

~ Father, empower me today. Help me to fix my eyes on Jesus and give me a spirit of endurance. Amen.