Right now that many of you listening to me are just barely holding on it's been a rough year and
I want to tell you don't give up don't don't don't don't you dare give up hold on this too shall pass
the tough stuff that you're going through it didn't come to stay it came to pass it's
not going to last the problem's not going to last so don't give up on God don't give up on
your marriage don't give up on your church don't give up on your dream don't give up
don't give up look up look up Jesus Christ the son of God who created you who thought you up who
loves you who has a purpose for your life who died on the cross for you who rose again and is coming
back one day who's going to take you to heaven one day Jesus Christ is the secret of strength
to make it to the end of your marathon and end well when we go through a bad season of life
those circumstances that are oppressing us they're very real but there's another reality
and that reality that God is in the heavens and he is controlling and watching and all powerful
over every circumstance in our life we have a choice are we going to focus on our circumstances
are we going to focus on our God things will start looking up when you start looking up
in other words your circumstances will improve when you stop looking at them
and start looking to God let me say it again things start looking up when I start looking up
you know in the bible there's a phrase that's used over and over and over and it is the
phrase lift up your eyes said many many times in scripture it's just one way of saying look up
get your eyes off yourself and off your problems and off your circumstances and
on to God refocus look at him things will start looking up when I start looking up
when we look up and we see how big God is it naturally shrinks the size of our problems they
just don't seem to be as big or as overwhelming when compared to the greatness of God I don't
know what burdens you're bearing I don't know what grief or fear or anxiety or confusion you may be
feeling right now but I do know this you need to look up instead of giving up don't give up look up
in your disillusioned heart in your angst you've got your eyes focused on the wrong place
until your eyes are fixed on the Lord
you won't be able to endure the days that go from bad to worse that's the key
until your eyes are fixed on the Lord you won't be able to endure the days that go from bad to worse
the bible invites us over and over and over fix your eyes on me God says fix your eyes on
me fix your eyes on me Hebrews calls us let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and the
perfecter of our faith are you in the middle of a discouraging season fix your eyes friends
fix your eyes back on Jesus in a in a season of emotional pain fix your eyes on Jesus
do it once do it twice do it multiple times a day do it constantly throughout the day remember
and rehearse who he is remember who he is remember what he's promised to do
so when your schedules press when your prospects thin when your hope
burns low when people disappoint you when events turn against you when dreams die
when the walls close in when the prognosis is grim when your heart breaks
because when life is crushing we don't have anywhere else to go
because of who he is he will always do what is best for you
now sometimes we have to talk ourselves off the ledge we have to remind ourselves of important
truths like God knows what he's doing he doesn't make mistakes his timing is always perfect
whatever is happening he is choosing to allow for this moment it's challenging to trust and
keep trusting but we have to because he is who he said he is and he will do what he says he'll do
this is the difference between ordinary people and great people great people never give up
they never give up they keep on in the marathon of life even when they're fatigued even
when they're frustrated even when they feel like failures and even when they're fearful
don't you dare friend give in without a fight
fight back fight back against your discouragement fight back against the devil fight back
against those who want to discourage you you got a great dream and at some point
the devil whispers in your who do you think you are attempting to do this wrong question
you should build your life not on what you think you can do but what you think God can do
you let the size of your God determine the size of your goal it's not about do you think I would
have tried to do all things I've tried to do in life because I was depending on me not a chance
in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing I know that I can't do
certain things Jesus said apart from me you can do nothing so that's pretty clear
now how do you react when your plans take longer than expected
when what you thought was going to take be done real quickly when you have a project and
you go man this has taken me a long time to get through school it's taken me a long time to get
this thing built this has taken me what do you do you give in to self-pity do you start complaining
you start blaming other people friends if at first you don't succeed you're normal you're
normal okay nobody succeeds at first the only way you actually succeed in life is by failing
a bunch and learning what doesn't work failure is the stepping stone to success nobody ever succeeds
without having failures success here's the difference between successful and unsuccessful
people successful people see failure as a temporary setback unsuccessful people
see it as a mark on their character well I'm a failure no no nobody succeeds at everything
nobody has an unbroken record of success refocus on God stop listening to the negativity
and resist the discouragement don't you give into it resist it fight it
and who will give you the energy to fight it your Lord and savior Jesus Christ so focus on him
not on the problem when we're at our worst God's at his best the stage is now set for
God to work his will his way you see over and over again in the scriptures over and over again
the stage is set for God to do his most amazing work when the situation looks the bleakest to us
when you and I are fresh out of options when you and I are fresh uh at the at the end of our rope
when you and I are at the end of ourselves and we're full of fear and we're full of uncertainty
that's when God steps back rolls up his sleeves and starts to wow us again
the challenge for us is not giving up too soon you know a lot of people start off great in life
but even before they get to the halfway point in their life they've already really messed it up
and they've given up which is worse than messing up here let me say it again giving up is always
worse than messing up everybody messes up why do people give up in the marathon of their lives
because they got discouraged choose to change the channel of your mind don't keep replaying
all those discouraging images in your mind instead remember the Lord choose to think about God
and what he's faithfulness his love his mercy his compassion choose to think about
God because your thoughts always determine your feelings do you want to stop being discouraged
then stop thinking the way you've been thinking you know when bad days come into our lives
we want God to do something big something miraculous don't we our miraculous cure to the
illness the immediate return of a prodigal the overnight breaking of a destructive addiction
the erasure of the financial problems we're suffering we want God to act dramatically and
instantaneously sometimes he does that but usually that's not how it works it's not in the big things
instead it's in that still small voice that God comes to give us courage to face
that illness or the grace to accept that prodigal's departure from God the ability the
wisdom to handle the financial difficulty we're experiencing that's how God speaks most often
and when the waves are crashing and the winds are howling around us it is important that we learn
how to listen to God's real but sometimes small voice in the midst of our bad season of life
bad days are inevitable but they don't have to be paralyzing those who live a significant life
learn to expect bad days and learn how to refresh themselves physically emotionally and spiritually
you know I found that going through a bad season of life
is a lot like traveling through a dark tunnel the bad news is in that tunnel it is dark
you can't see in front of you you don't know if you'll ever make it out but the good news
is once you've entered into that dark tunnel with God's help you're already on the way out