Grit Don't Quit: A 5-Day Devotional for Developing Resilience and Faith When Giving Up Isn't an OptionChikamu

DAY 3: Don’t Quit

How do you bounce back from situations that try to break you and knock you down? You guessed it: by developing grit and strengthening your resilience. As we learned yesterday, grit is something you can acquire. But the truth is that it’s hard to take new ground and move forward when you are depleted. It’s painful to get back up when you are depressed. And it’s challenging to maintain hope when you are disillusioned.

When you are knocked down, it’s easy to focus on asking why. Unfortunately, friends, we don’t always learn why. We may not know the why, but we must trust the who. When we linger on the why, we risk becoming bitter. When we focus on the who, we effectively surrender. Surrender is what leads us to meaningful encounters with God. Trusting God is scary! But you can’t put your faith in fear. You must put your faith in your Father, who loves you.

When you feel depleted, depressed, and disillusioned, it can be difficult to see any way forward. But take a clue from Paul and just refuse to give up (see Acts 27—28). Through storm, shipwreck, and snake bite, Paul could have listed reasons to give up hope, to be disillusioned with God, but instead, he shook it off (literally, as in the snake hanging from his hand, as well as emotionally and spiritually).

Shaking off disillusionment is key to getting back up when life knocks you down. And when you shake that trash off you, it’ll save you from any ill effects from it. Meaning, that when you start spiraling into disillusionment, you have to first stop repeating the lie that you’ve been abandoned by God and shake it off. This action isn’t just for you. It’s for everyone who is watching you too! Child of God, people are watching you. People are waiting for you to lose it, to walk away, or to curl up and die. But look at you! You are surviving and refusing to give up.

What if your adversity turns out to be the one thing that opens doors to which you otherwise would never have had access? Said differently, what if your adversity brings you opportunity? Paul had to go through the storm, he had to survive a snakebite because God was going to use him for something he never would have encountered otherwise. Sometimes opportunity is hidden behind adversity. God will use the places we’ve been hurt to bring blessing to others.

Everything you have gone through and everything you will go through is part of the plan. And your pain will have a purpose if you choose to trust God, choke out the lies of the Enemy with the truth of God’s Word, get up, and not give up hope. You may not know why, but you can believe in the who. You might find yourself in despair, riding waves of depression, and even fighting disillusionment, but if you don’t quit, you will eventually end up where the Lord wants you.

Respond

How does the truth of God’s Word help you choke out the lies of the Enemy and trust God’s plan for your life?

How can focusing on the who of your circumstances help you overcome the why questions that distract you from trusting God?

What opportunities do you have in the midst of adversity to be used by God to show His plan to others?

Prayer

Lord, as I strive to follow You, help me to recognize that knowing You is worth the cost of every adversity I experience. Thank You that You will use my life as an opportunity to bless others with the knowledge of Your love. Help me not to quit, but to get up and choose to follow You. Amen.