Don’t Give Up On Us, Lord!
Are you waiting on God for something? Let us pray for you.
“At harvest time he sent a slave to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the farmers. But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another slave to them, and they hit him on the head and treated him shamefully. Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; they beat some and they killed some. He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’” (Mark 12:2-6, HCSB)
Jesus talked in parables in such picturesque ways. The way He described the scenes of the parables captivated the listener. When He finished, you would sit there in either awe or frustration. Several biblical commentators say that Jesus’ word-pictures were priceless masterpieces.
In this parable, Jesus is in Jerusalem talking to religious authorities three days before His own execution at the hands of these same people. [I encourage you to please read the entire passage of Mark 12:1-12.] The moral of this story is that God (vineyard owner) created the world (vineyard) in such intricate ways and gave it to mankind (farmers) to oversee. Sin caused us to disrespect God. He sent several prophets and Godly leaders (slaves) to warn us of our disrespect and we either maimed or killed them all. Finally, God sends His only Son to this earth, and He is killed, too. Praise the Lord, we know the rest of the story since He rose again!
Just as the vineyard owner never gave up on collecting from the renters, God NEVER gives up on us. We can see throughout the Old Testament where He got frustrated and wanted to wipe humanity out. But He kept trying then and He keeps trying with us now. Even when we enmesh ourselves in sin, He is there knocking on the doors of our hearts just waiting on us.
If God keeps trying with us and offers us forgiveness, then we should never give up, either. It hurts to be lied to. It hurts to pour all you have into people and ministry only to feel like there are no results and appreciation. We often scream in our minds (if not audibly), “Why do I even try?!?!?”
Over these past months, my wife and I have walked on a journey with several people who have been going through some heavy issues. Oftentimes, they would ask, “Do you believe there is hope that things will get better? Do you really think we are going to make it? Be honest, what do you think?” And sometimes in the middle of these discussions, we would say, “I just don’t know.” Humanly, you want to tell them to walk away and begin again, but spiritually you know they need to have faith and keep trying. As I look at this passage, I am humbled that God never gave up on us. He saw and sees in us great value and worth although we are unworthy. Therefore, we should follow His example and give it all — don’t give up!!!
Father, When I am at the end of my rope remind me of Your unending goodness and help me to hold on just a little longer. Amen
Question: How do you keep going when you don’t have any energy left to do it anymore?
Thank you,Jonathan for this devotion. I`m learning that when I feel I can`t go one more step,it`s the time that I see that my priorities are wrong & it`s time to run*not walk* back into His arms!
Minguita,I just said a prayer for you & your circumstances. May He give you wisdom & the courage to follow through.
Minguita, I am so glad to hear that God spoke truth to you through this piece. At church on Sunday my pastor was talking about Matt 28:18 where Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He pointed out that if ALL power has been given to Jesus then Satan has nothing. He has ZERO power. The only thing he has is lies. Some of them are very powerful, very convincing lies, but they’re just lies and if we can combat those lies with God’s truth, there is victory in that.
The pastor went on to remind us that you can’t fight thoughts with thoughts, you have to fight thoughts with words. So when Satan comes at you with these thoughts about your marriage and your husband, don’t just think “that’s not true” speak truth against them instead. Say out loud Matthew 19:6, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” When Satan tries to come against you say out loud that God is FOR your marriage and not against it. When he brings up past hurts, list out the good things about your husband. Remind yourself that what Satan says is all just lies. God can heal your marriage.
There was an example from the service yesterday that really stayed with me. The pastor said that when you’re training an elephant they’ll tie a rope around the baby’s leg and attach it to a wooden post in the ground and the baby elephant will try to get away but it can’t and in time it gives up because it cannot pull the stake out of the ground. As the elephant grows up you don’t have to change the size of the stake holding him still because he believes that he cannot move it. Even full grown, when he has the power to pull entire trees out of the ground, he’ll stay right where he is because he believes that he cannot conquer the stake in the ground. I don’t know if there is something that feels unconquerable in your marriage. If there’s a hurt that feels to big, a hardened heart, a mountain of financial stress or a past history that seems like it just cannot be moved. But you serve a mighty and powerful God and He can change anything. Don’t let Satan bind you to a tiny stake in the ground. Believe that God can and will give you the strength to work for your marriage and not against it. Be faithful in prayer and don’t give up. You are stronger than you know and God has not forgotten about you.
I really must shout out “HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!” How beautiful my God is even though I am not deserving!! He truly has mercy on my soul! It is 4:26am at this moment and God has just answered my prayer through this post! I am so excited! I have been on a tremendously challenging marriage where throwing in the towel always seemed to be the only option in order to be rid of the continuous ‘offenses’ my husband faced. I love my husband and God is using him to show me two things: 1. How much He loves me and NEVER gives up on me, and 2. How to show this love, His love, to my husband. Yesterday, I was being taunted by the enemy. he was saying, “look at him, he’s not smiling because he’s happy with you, he’s laughing at you, you are his fool,” and “God did not tell you to stay, that’s just you needing a man, isn’t that what he told you before?” I just awoke from sleep telling myself how much I need to walk away because it sucks feeling unappreciated. “You offended me, I forgave you again and you want to tell me I have problems being a submissive wife! Some nerve!” Through God’s .Grace I saw that the enemy is setting up to attack us once more, so I ask Him to please help me to see that this is His plan for our marriage and that I need to remain here loving my husband. Not knowing why, I began to frantically search for my phone, and 10 minutes of searching, I found it and stared at it thinking “now what?” Then I opened saw this post in my email titled “Never Give Up.” As I read I felt God’s joy and victory fill my inner most parts! He answered me! He continues to be my Shepherd and protect me from the wolves while I sleep! I love You Father and I will never give up for your name’s sake!!