by: Allen Domelle
Jeremiah 20:9
“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
You are going to have days of adversity when you will want to quit. That adversity may come in the form of a battle, health issues, ministry problems, family problems or financial pressures, but you will face a day when you will want to quit. It is in that day that you are going to need something to be your cheerleader to encourage you to continue on.
Jeremiah faced one of those times in the verse above. Jeremiah was not only in prison, but they had put him in stocks to make his time more miserable. He was not in prison because he had done wrong, but he was put in prison because he obeyed God and prophesied against the nation. When Pashur took Jeremiah out of the stocks, he again prophesied, to no avail, that the city was going to be taken captive.
It was after this time of prophesying that Jeremiah became so discouraged that he decided he would never again mention the name of God. Yes, Jeremiah said that he was going to quit. He felt that his time of serving the LORD was worthless because he didn’t see any good results. But, it was God’s Word that became his cheerleader during this time. It was God’s Word that became the fire that stirred him to continue. It was God’s Word that gave him the strength to pick himself back up and continue on in spite of the feeling that nothing was coming from his ministry. God’s Word was truly his only hope to not quit in the day of adversity.
Have you ever gotten to the point in your life when you felt that serving God was just not working? Parent, have you ever felt that you’ve done everything, to no avail, to get your children to turn out right? Pastor, have you ever felt that you are wasting your time in your present ministry because the people just don’t seem to get involved? Ministry leader, have you ever felt like giving up because those whom you are trying to help are just not listening? Christian, have you ever come to the point in your life when you want to quit praying because you feel that nothing is happening in your prayer life? I don’t know want you are facing, but you have your own unique adversity that has driven you to desire quitting.
Your only hope in these times is God’s Word. If you have not spent time before this day of adversity in God’s Word, you will not have the fire in your heart to continue on. It is God’s Word that will become your cheerleader to keep on in the day of adversity. It is God’s Word that will burn in your heart in that day when you have signed your resignation to quit on God. It is God’s Word that will cause you to get up one more time to visit your bus route, teach your Sunday school class, preach one more sermon or just to serve God for one more day. Your only hope of not quitting in the day of adversity is God’s Word.
Christian, you will never make it without daily spending time in God’s Word. You don’t just need God’s Word for today, but you need it for tomorrow when the day of adversity comes. Let me encourage you to continually spend time reading and memorizing God’s Word. The only thing that will keep you from quitting in your day of adversity is whether or not you have spent time in God’s Word. You better spend time in it now because you will need it some day.