Give?

Maybe you have never been bullied.  But have you ever been in a wrestling match where the other guy pinned you to the floor and asked you, “Do you give?”  He wants to know if you have had enough and are ready to give up.  Have you felt like giving up?  I think we all have at one time or another.  I counsel people daily who are weary, tired of fighting, who have had too much.  They are ready to quit.

George Herbert once said, “He begins to die, that quits his desires.”  Maybe you feel that what you desire will never happen.  David writes that God wants to give us our heart’s desire.  Sometimes, that may seem very unlikely, especially given some of the things that may happened that seemed to suggest otherwise.  It isn’t always easy to understand why God wouldn’t want the same thing that we want or why He isn’t doing more to bring it about.

What is it you turn to when you are feeling discouraged, disappointed, in despair?  David suggests we need to find our happiness in the Lord (Ps. 37:4).  You may have seen the movie, “Finding Elmo,” and remember the character, Flo, that would find her happy place whenever she was feeling stressed.  That isn’t what David is talking about here.  David is encouraging us to turn to the Lord whenever we feel like giving up.  He wants us to believe that God truly does want to give us the desires of our heart.

Often, we misinterpret what God may be doing.  When doors appear to close or obstacles appear in our way, we tend to ask the wrong questions, such as,“God, why did You let this happen?”  Or, “God, why didn’t you just (fill in the blank)?”  John Eldredge (Wild At Heart) suggests we should ask a different set of questions, for example, “What are You trying to teach me?” “What is it You want me to see?” I would add, “What is it You may be trying to accomplish through this experience?”

The enemy would rather you believe that you will never be able to be successful.  He is obviously worried that you may be able to accomplish something of significance if he doesn’t do his best to distract you or discourage you.  The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us…Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Heb. 12:1,3).”

Eldredge includes this quote in his book, by William Gurnall.

"As part of Christ's army, you march in the ranks of gallant spirits.  Every one of  your fellow soldiers is the child of a King.  Some, like you, are in the midst of battle, besieged on every side by affliction and temptation.  Others, after many assaults, repulses, and rallyings of their faith, are already standing upon the wall of heaven as conquerors.  From there they look down and urge you, their comrades on earth, to march up the hill after them.  This is their cry: 'Fight to the death and the City is your own, as now it is ours!' "

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not  give up (Gal. 6:9).”

For further study, read the story of Asa in II Chron. 15.