I've been hitting a lot of roadblocks with my writing over the past few months. I would begin writing but the words weren’t making sense or even making it to the page. I’d get halfway through a piece or a thought and I’d want to change it or throw it out. I have kept finding myself hitting this roadblock and then giving up.
I’ve found this topic of ‘giving up’ has been appearing a lot around me, whether that’s in my own thoughts or in the conversations around me, or things I’m reading – it’s all pointing to “push through with hard work!” When I hear the words ‘hard work’ I think of something that's very difficult and draining to work through, but is it worth it?
How tempting it is to give up! I understand this writing roadblock is something that pales in comparison to people’s everyday temptations to quit, from a difficult relationship you’re working to mend, a health battle that’s looking hopeless, a business deal that’s turned dirty on you. Life throws all sorts of challenges our way, and whether you’re struggling to finish a piece of writing or remain faith-filled in a dark moment in your life, in every scenario you have the option to push through and work hard or give up.
Giving up
Giving up looks appealing in the middle of it. If I give up, I don’t have to work through these issues, if I give up I don’t have to confront that person, I don’t have to fight physically against an illness, I don’t have to step out and be brave. But can I be a little blunt for a second and say, I think we forget the negatives that come from this decision. In the times I was most tempted to give up on things I’ve committed to in my life, I had to remind myself “I didn’t get all this way to stay here!”
Psalm 23 talks of a shepherd who walks us through the valley of the shadow of death. It speaks of God as the shepherd, not shielding us from the dark valleys, but the shepherd we can confidently confide in. “I will fear no evil for you are with me.” But he leads us THROUGH, we don’t stay here but we can be guided through our darkest times. It just takes leaning on God and sometimes that does look like hard work.
Hard work
The phrase, ‘Hard work’, can make you shudder if you’ve found yourself in a place of exhaustion or misery. Psalm 55 tells of a moment in David’s life where he was in misery. ‘I am restless… fear and trembling come upon me… horror overwhelms me and I say “Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest”’ (Psalm 55, verses 2-6). David was overwhelmed with fear and horror at this time and all he wanted to do was to run!
This was reassuring for me to realise. David was someone who we would describe as ‘close to God’, and even he had honest moments with God where all he wanted to do was run. The thing I love about David’s attitude, is that he realises that no matter where his life is at the time, God’s plan for his life is to make a greater impact, and he wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for God’s good grace.
David was restless and tense, but in verse 16, we can almost see the transformation God is having on David’s perspective. “But I call to God and the Lord will save me… I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice. He redeems my soul in safety… Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.” (Psalm 55, verses 6-22).
Staying in the fight
In a season that I am looking for an ‘exit door’ and feel the need to run away or coast into stagnancy, I remember this verse. God is willing to hear my complaints, my confusion, my sorrow and my fear. He doesn’t just want to hear our heart, he wants to redeem us in safety. There’s nothing better than having a moment of vulnerability with someone and feeling completely confident that you confided in someone that is safe, that won’t betray your trust or change their stance on you, but redeems in safety. God wants to be that place for you and me.
We can’t give up, not because it looks bad, not because it feels bad – but because there’s too much purpose in our lives that we can’t even see yet, that we’ll be putting aside. If David gave up and didn’t lean on God in his most sensitive and difficult moments, he would never have seen the great things God used his life for, and who knows what the church would look like today.
Sometimes the very thought of working hard makes running, suddenly, look so appealing. Hard work is something we try to avoid at every turn. If we can make it easier we will! But hard work is irreplaceable. People are not successful on accident, but they have made choices, sacrifices, disciplines in their lives to achieve great things and to make an impact.
We don’t know the future that God has for us, but we do know that God has a bigger plan and purpose for our lives than to live for our day to day life in comfort. He wants us to be prosperous, fruitful, blessed and impacting. It’s worth staying in the fight.
Rochelle Ross lives on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. She loves people, the moon, dirty food and Jesus and is very passionate about seeing young people know God. She loves a great story and one day wants to write about people’s lives and achievements.