don’t give up

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

- Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

 

Sometimes life just gets overwhelming.
Work, family, traffic, everything just seems to be pitted against us, absolutely nothing is going right.

There are a lot of verses in the Bible about perseverance, and not giving up, stories about the things that others have endured.
And there is real life. 
When we are so far down the rabbit hole that we feel like we can’t even see the sun anymore, it feels like no amount of Bible verses will help.
Those who have been reading my writing for a while know that one thing I like to do is compare different versions of the Bible.
The EXB (Expanded Bible) (yeah, I didn’t know this was a thing either) translates this verse We must not become ·tired [or discouraged] of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life ·at the right [or in due] time if we do not give up.
Still, not very helpful. 
There is a poem I remember my mother had taped to the refrigerator, written by Edgar Albert Guest but often attributed to John Greenleaf Whittier (why do poets have three names?):
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

when the funds are low and the debts are high,

and you want to smile but you have to sigh,

when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.

As everyone of us sometimes learns.

And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;

and he learned too late when the night came down,

how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

and when you never can tell how close you are,

it may be near when it seems afar;

so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst, you must not quit.

HMMM

According to the interwebs, it's all about perseverance, tenacity, determination, and will-power to not to give up - especially when the things are going wrong.

It’s hard.
No matter what verses or poems you read, no matter who you talk to, life is hard.
Let me say that again: Life. Is. Hard. 

Not giving up can be a full-time job piled on top of everything else going on.
I guess that I am just here to say the same thing – don’t give up. 
Tomorrow things may not be as bad. 
It may not be better tomorrow – but there are a million tomorrows as long as you don’t give up today.

   

#dailybreadbykitty

Daily Inspiration from the Bible