The Intense Desire to Quit

Dec.14

Read: Jeremiah 20

The Intense Desire to Quit

“Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!” (v.14)

We will all sooner or later have to face the intense desire to quit… to give up… to throw int he towel. Some of us may face this more than once. For some, it is a constant battle, but EVERYONE will have their turn. I once heard a pastor speak of quitting as a “disease that was rampant among Christians”. In our most honest and transparent moments, we must both face and fight this truth: there are simply times we want to give up. The experience of this sensation DOES NOT mean we are quitters… it means we are human… we are authentic and genuine seekers of the Lord.

There are portions of the church / the people of God who have made it taboo tot all about these fiery moments of trial. Let’s be forthright, it can be jarring to have someone sit down across from you and share that they are doubting faith, or angry with God, or wishing they had never been born. Imagine if you were buddies with Jeremiah and he say down and said what he said in verse 14 to you? The enemy uses the stigma surrounding wrestling with doubt and wanting to quit to further isolate the people of God from each other. A person is made to feel as though they have some sort of deficit in “faith” if they are wrestling with these ideas. I irony is that to wrestle with doubt actually leads to EVEN GREATER and deeper amounts of FAITH.

Jeremiah wanted to quit. He was done with it. He was worn out. He had just been beaten and put into stocks for declaring the word of the Lord. He was understandably a little ticked off at God. Why would God allow that to happen to him? Where was God when that all went down? I am sure he wondered if God has abandoned him, walked off, or “taking a break” from looking out for him. Jeremiah feels like he has been “tricked” by God: “O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived…” And that the Lord simply wants to destroy him and prove who is stronger: “you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.” (v.7) When we face difficulty we will be tempted to claim that God tricked us. When we face hardship we will inevitably have to wrestle with he feeling that we deserve better and that God has pulled a fast one on us and duped us into following him. When we suffer, we will face the temptation to drift into thinking that God is simply trying to “flex” on us a show us who is boss. This is simply not true. This is not how God works… and even Jeremiah knows it.

When we come to the end of ourselves, we experience that truth that Christian faith is not about how tightly we grip onto God, but about how tightly HE holds on to US. So I implore you with everything that I have …

DON’T QUIT

I don’t know what it is you are wrestling with… but don’t quit. I don’t know the heartache you have endured or the “beating and stocks” that you have just come out of like Jeremiah… but don’t quit. I may not know the details surrounding what you think you signed up for or how you feel like you have “been deceived” by God but I do know this - don’t quit! You are not a bad person for doubting. You are not a bad person for hurting. You DO NOT lack faith just because you are fighting this battle. Do not listen to the voice of the enemy. Hang in there… don’t quit. Look at the way that Jeremiah fights for what is true in his darkest hours… this is the cure for the disease of being a quitter.

Jeremiah acknowledges that his mission is deep within him; “there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” (v.9) He couldn’t stop speaking of the Lord if he wanted to! The message of the Lord is deep within him. I am sure he thought of his childhood… all those years ago when the Lord showed up and called him: ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (v.1:5) Purpose and meaning are the antidotes to chaos and the desire to quit. Jeremiah knew he had been built for this moment… even though he felt like quitting at the time… he cries out “for to you have I committed my cause.” (v.12) Jeremiah reminds himself that the Lord is indeed with him. “But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.” (v.11) When we doubt, we need to be reminded that everything and everyone set against the Lord will one day be overthrown. “Every knee shall ow and every tongue confess.” Jeremiah reminds himself of all the ways he has AVOIDED suffering and had been delivered. This instance of suffering was put into perspective alongside all of the other gifts and provisions of the Lord. Jeremiah begins to look at the goodness of God in his life as well as his blessings to others: “Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.” (v.13) These are the tools to fight doubt. These are the medicines that cure the disease of wanting to quit; and like medicine they do not work instantly but take a little time. This is why we see them intermingled with Jeremiah’s crying out. What we do see is that Jeremiah never quits, despite having many reasons to do so. We see the outworking in Jeremiah’s life. He never gives up.

What impact did this have on the world around him? Some 600 years later Jesus walked the earth. As Christ worked miracles and taught with great power the people were trying to figure out who Jesus was. So Jesus asks his followers, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (Matt 16:13) Six hundred years later and the life of Jeremiah had made such an impact that people were mistaking Jesus as Jeremiah because of his powerful teaching and miraculous work. Jeremiah never quit and he impacted God’s people for CENTURIES… long after he had passed away. Jeremiah never quit and neither did Jesus!

So - DON’T QUIT. Cry out to the Lord. All him how you TRULY feel. Share with others around you… do not be afraid. Remind yourself of the good things of the past, and how God has rescued you in the past. Read Psalm 139 and Eph. 2:10. Meditate on your cosmic destiny that you have in Christ. The Lord is with you as a “dread warrior”, he will not allow you to be overcome. Sing his praises. Whatever it takes, I am telling you you cannot quit. Christianity doesn’t need anymore quitters… it needs genuine followers who are willing to wrestle. And even if you do quit - you just may find out that God doesn’t quit on you! You will “feel it in your bones” just like Jeremiah and sooner or later you will be restored. Love you guys. - JDP