a random word : Don't. Give. Up.

I don't know who this is for, but the Lord has been pressing onto my heart again and again these last few days that we are quitting far too quickly...that He has much to do through His people if we would only persevere.

Don't know how rough the going is right now, or how high the walls feel, or how stupid.  Don't know how difficult the road or how stretching the journey or how many failures you've felt.

But we mustn't quit.

We cannot quit seeking righteous even if all around us has settled.  We cannot quit trying reconciliation, even if all around us has chosen sides.  We cannot quit praying redemption for that which feels unredeemable.  We cannot quit praying for those who seem eternally lost, cannot quit loving those who seem eternally impossible.

His love.  His love is never-quitting, never-stopping, never-giving-up, unbreaking always and forever love.

And if we are His people, His church, His hands, His light...we've gotta be, too.

Have we prayed something for a long time?  'Till death do us part, don't give up.
Have we suffered something for many weary days?  Thorn in our flesh, His power perfected in weakness, don't give up.
Have we battled it longer than not?  Have we desired it longer than we can remember?  Have we forgiven it seventy times seven and blew it just as many times?

Don't stop praying.  Don't become bitter.  Don't let kindness leave you.  Don't grow weary of doing good.  Don't fade. Don't shrink back.  Do. Not. Stop.

Now is the time, the unglamorous time, to persevere...for His glory.

He's got a plan.  He has NOT given up.  Let's trust Him.

We are not of those who shrink back to destruction,

but of those who have faith 

to the persevering of the soul.

Hebrews 10:39