How long are you willing to wait for God’s best in your life? How persistent are you to endure when you want to quit?
God is faithful to fulfill every single promise found in Scripture. In fact, God is working behind the scenes right now on your behalf. Kind of overwhelming to think about, right? But let me remind you, you are not in charge of God’s timing. You don’t have to figure our how God does the impossible…your job is to stay patient and stay in faith.
However, you do have a spiritual enemy that isn’t going to just sit back and allow you to experience God’s goodness without a fight. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV) warns you to, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
I want to help you become stronger in your faith and teach you how to outlast the attacks of your adversary. You can learn how to be relentless and fight for the promises of God!
Relentless Faith
The writer of Hebrews calls us to a relentless faith saying, “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:11-12 NIV).
I’ve met some Christians who have become spiritually lazy and settle for less than God’s best. Honestly, I’ve been there myself at times. They aren’t willing to fight for the promises of God. They say, “It’s too hard.” They say, “It’s never going to happen.” They say, “It didn’t work for so and so; I guess it’s not going to work for me.”
But that’s not you! You’re a person of faith and patience. You’re going to stay in the faith and keep believing to see the goodness of God.
Imitate The Greats
Who hasn’t imagined they hit the winning shot like Serena Williams? Or scored the winning goal like Alex Morgan? Or stuck the landing like Simone Biles? You imitate these women because they’re great at their sport, because they’ve figured out what it takes to win.
Hebrews instructs you to “imitate those who through faith and patience” are experiencing God’s goodness and blessing. That means you can learn from the example of others. There are athletes that have gone before me that have inspired my faith. I’ve met a handful personally and read the biographies of several others. Similarly, I pray that my life and my faith is an example to you and will inspire you to stay strong in faith.
I want my fight of faith to encourage you to stay in the fight!
Everything worth having requires a fight. I love watching athletes who excel, don’t you? Some of the greatest athletes seem to make it look easy, like they were born with extreme talent. And yes, while they are talented, the reality of why they achieved the level of success they did was because of dedication and relentless work.
You don’t gain God’s best, or life’s best, by being a quitter!
For the past 10 years, I’ve trained at least 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. That comes out to around 4000 hours of work all for the hope of competing for 4 minutes at the Olympics. Plenty of other people have been part of the bobsled team that were more talented than I was, but they lacked the persistence to push through when things got tough and they quit.
Quitting Is No Longer An Option
If you ever want to see the fullness of God’s destiny for your life, you must develop the art of continuing. Make the decision that quitting is no longer an option. That means getting rid of the “exit options”. If you have “options” to quit in the back of your mind, you will end up talking yourself out of God’s best and settling for less.
One of the greatest examples of relentless faith is the Apostle Paul. He had a “no quit” attitude. He was persecuted, imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, and betrayed. Yet he never stopped pursuing his destiny.
In Acts 20:23-24, Paul explains that the “Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me…” That is what it means to be relentless! He was so determined to follow God that nothing was going to stop him.
You can imitate this same type of relentless faith! Regardless of how impossible it looks, no matter how long it’s taking, even if others turn on you…you stay in the faith, trusting God.
One of the meanings of relentless is continuing without folding. We all have opportunities to quit. Every step of faith I’ve taken in my life and in sport has come with many opportunities to quit! I have had to learn to fight for what God has promised.
The Bible is full of scriptures that talk about not quitting. When you want to quit on your God given dreams, encourage yourself with verses like these:
12 Encouraging Verses about Not Giving Up
Finish Strong
Like lots of people, I am good at starting things, but it takes a concerted effort to see them to the finish. How many times has a coach uttered the phrase, “Finish Strong!” while you’re wheezing for breath and for sure want to quit or stop giving your best effort? Think about all the people who show up to the gym on January 1st with a resolution to lose weight. As athletes, going to the gym is part of our lifestyle, so we all know it only takes a few weeks before those people start to thin out and by April only the committed few remain.
Jesus knew we’d all want to quit when things get hard or we face opposition, so He encouraged us to develop the art of continuing. “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed” (John 8:31). I’m so thankful for the transformation God has done in my life! Looking back, I can see God’s goodness as a result of not being a quitter and want to see you have the same testimony. I want you to boldly declare, “In the name of Jesus, my days of quitting are over. I am no longer a quitter, and from this day forward, I’m determined to be a winner!”
Fight The Temptation To Quit
But let’s be real. Even when you’ve made the quality decision not to quit, you’ll still face the desire to quit. We all get discouraged sometimes when things don’t go the way we thought they would, but I’m here to tell you that facing discouragement is not a sin. Part of being relentless is fighting against discouragement. Don’t let Satan beat you down with shame because you’re battling the temptation to quit. I want to pray over you to be free from the shame of feeling like giving up and God would give you strength and focus:
God, in the name of Jesus I pray for each young woman reading this post. I pray that the Holy Spirit would rise up on the inside of her giving her fresh hope for the future. Lord, in the moments of silence, when the voice of the enemy is condemning her, I pray that the voice of the Holy Spirit would be louder, inspiring her to never quit. Lord, I pray that the words of this post spoke life to her spirit and that she will be determined to fight the good fight of faith. Amen.
Don’t settle for anything less than God’s best. Stay in the fight. I’m standing with you and believing for you to see the goodness of God! One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 24:16. “Though the righteous fall seven time, they rise again.” You may get knocked down seven times, but you can get up eight! God is not done with you. You can get up, brush yourself off, and keep moving forward. God’s promises are for you, and you have a future and a hope!
