That night I lay in my bed tossing and turning.
The hours of the night passed and I found no sleep. I glanced at my phone … 11 P.M. … 1 A.M. … 3 A.M. … 5 A.M.
I had just made a big decision and was wrestling with a lot of doubt about it.
I decided it was time to quit something in my life.
"I Was Finished."
Throughout the night one question continually tapped on my soul: Did I really do the right thing? I just couldn’t find the assurance my heart needed. Worry. Anxiousness. Fear. And even a dose of sadness overcame me.
Sometimes it’s so hard to know if we’ve made the right decision. I wish I could tell you there’s a perfect formula to follow to make sure you never quit a commitment God’s asking you to stick through again. While I don’t have that promise to offer you, God has shown me there’s a difference between quitting and finishing.
That night, the peace of God washed over me as He showed me that particular season was coming to a finish line for me. I wasn’t quitting. I wasn’t giving up. I was finished.
There's a Time to Begin and a Time to Finish
I have a quit quitting verse: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
It gives me a clue into this process. For some reason, when I read it, I think of running.
Let me clarify. I’m so not a runner, but my husband Kris is. And I’ve noticed a pattern with his running—it comes in seasons.
He’s not always training for a marathon, and he’s not always running a marathon. It comes in waves — train, run hard, finish. He doesn’t always meet his goals, but he finishes his races. Then once he’s rested and ready to start training again, he gets his shoes on and goes.
Life is filled with seasons in a similar pattern. There’s a time to begin, there’s a time to push hard and there’s a time to finish.
The Truth About Quitting
Quitting makes you say you’re done because it’s hard, you’re tired or you’re frustrated. Finishing makes you say you’re seeing this through until the end.
What does the end look like for you? Only God can show you that. But here is a great question to ask yourself as you consider finishing something: “Has God found me faithful here so I can move there?”
Here’s the truth: quitters don’t finish.
Quitters leave assignments, tasks and relationships incomplete. Finishers follow through to the end.
Seasons come and seasons go, but the faithfulness of our God remains the same. We can learn this very important lesson from Ruth: “Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he was intimate with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son” (Ruth 4:13).
When I read this part of the story, I immediately think of this verse: “She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!” (Luke 1:45).
What Is God's Promise for You?
Yes, moving forward in faith is trusting that eventually we will see the fulfillment of God’s promises for us if we don’t give up.
I don’t want you to hesitate in answering this next question. This is between you, me and God. And since technically I can’t see your response, I’m pretty much the safest person you know. What is a promise you feel like God has given you for your life?
I can see some of you thinking of promises for a husband, children, jobs, healthy marriages, friendships and so many dreams. I know the older we get, the easier it is to give up on seeing the fulfillment of those things. But look what God’s Word tells us:
“Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Praise the LORD, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daugh¬ter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him’”
(Ruth 4:14-15).
Naomi is seeing a new life before her. I know she would do anything to be back in the arms of her husband, Elimelech. To hear the sound of her two boys running through the house again would make her heart overflow with joy. But she has found hope again.
A promise from God in the form of a marriage and a baby. It might not look how she dreamed, she might have fought every step of the way, and maybe some would even say she’s too old to experience the faithfulness of God, but she did.
And so will you.
Excerpt taken from A Woman Who Doesn’t Quit, by Nicki Koziarz. Published by Lifeway. All rights reserved.
Continue Reading: The Truth About Spiritual Warfare and Why It's Important to Pray
Learn More About "A Woman Who Doesn't Quit"
Every woman eventually faces the decision as to whether or not to give in to the temptation to give up. But there’s something special that happens when a woman decides to persevere in the face of problems or pain. A woman who refuses to quit influences her world in ways she could have never dreamed or imagined.
Unfolding over six sessions, Nicki Koziarz walks readers through the Book of Ruth, looking to the Moabite woman for five practical habits that kept her from quitting and kept her eyes focused on God. Get the Bible study.