2 John 1:8Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

8 Watch yourselves so you don’t lose what we[a] have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.

 

I’ve been wanting to give up. Yes, I said it. Give up. I’ve been tired, weary, frustrated, angry, and above all else, discontented in a lot of areas of my life. I’ve realized in this season, that I’ve over invested in some areas, which undoubtably are important but underinvested in areas that are most important. As a result, I’ve become somewhat resentful, because I don’t believe I’ve yielded what I believe I should have, or deserved to have, with the amount of work I’ve put in. I think this will happen to just about anyone who mixes their priorities or over invests or under invests misappropriately. But regardless of this conundrum, we are still called to be excellent. We are called to work as if we are working unto the Lord, and not men. We are called to be diligent with our time, and the time we have been allotted her on Earth.

So I say all of this to say, that I can’t lay down or be passive, as much as I want to emotionally. It’s really not how you start, it’s how you finish. It’s hard when you know something new is on the horizon but it is not yet here. It’s easy to cast away your confidence and settle or stop believing. That’s what a lot of people do, and they never really accomplish their destiny. But we are not those people. You wouldn’t be here reading this, if you were. I believe EVERYONE can choose to be the person who CHOOSES to NOT give up. To push in when you are tired, to FINISH the season you are in with excellence.

What I’ve come to know, and it’s frustrating as all get out, but it’s always how it seems to work in my life… Is that promotion comes when you aren’t looking for it. The end of your season comes when you are so busy giving your all where you are at REGARDLESS of whether that season will ever change or not. (Ok, so we are always waiting, hoping, wanting, but it’s when we put that waiting, hoping, and wanting on a shelf and get to work, working efficiently and excellently, that we either realize we have or are entering into a new season, or God simply delivers us onwards)

So for me, my prayer is that I don’t give up when the night is darkest, because we know that it’s darkest right before the first break of dawn. When we are up against a battle, it’s when we lose our ability to carry on any further, is when God’s Grace kicks in and allows Him to fight on our behalf. It’s in that surrendering, where we are truly walking in Gods will because we were never meant to carry our life stresses on our own strength. It’s that letting go, where God really gets to do His thing and in the end, truly gets all the glory.

Well that’s enough for my 1:35 AM post. Hope this encouraged you, in whatever season you may find yourself in.

Remember who you are. Tell yourself who you are. Even if it doesn’t make sense right now and even if you don’t feel it, it’s true. You are a conqueror in Christ. God is with you in this fight. You are never alone. It’s never as bad as it seems. It could always be worse. Count your blessings, not your obstacles. Speak to yourself and remind yourself that you are loved, God has a plan for your life, and even if you can not see it just yet, it’s right around the corner. And never, ever, ever, give up.

Ever.

1 Corinthians 13:12The Message (MSG)

12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

You are ADORED, xx

Alicia