When You Feel Like You Can’t Keep Going

Reference: Judges 20:26-28 Then all the Israelites went up to Bethel and wept in the presence of the Lord and fasted until evening. They also brought burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. 27 The Israelites went up seeking direction from the Lord.  . . . 28 The Israelites asked the Lord, "Should we fight against our relatives from Benjamin again, or should we stop?"

Observation: The lesson of this passage (the men of Israel had, under God’s direction, gone to war against a much smaller group from the tribe of Benjamin and had lost the battle with many of their men killed) is that when God has called you to action, you do it. This does not mean that there will not be setbacks or losses. Their example reminds us to not let our apparent defeats stop us but to go back before God, in the midst of our tears and grief, make sure we had the instructions right, and set out for action one more time. Victory is assured. It is just a matter of time and determination. With God on our side how can we lose? The issue is; will we keep on fighting when our nose has been bloodied and all we can see, so far, is defeat. Victory is often just beyond a heart wrenching setback.

Application/Confession: This section of scripture reminds me of all the times that I have done what I felt God had called me to do and then got beat up in doing it. I can really identify with these men as they come before God weeping over their catastrophic losses. How many times have I had the same feeling; "God, I was just doing what you told me to do, how could it end up this way?".

PRAYER: God, I am not going to quit. I may cry before you over those who abandon me. I my feel weak, tired and ready to give up, but I won’t. What I will do is to come before you, off the sacrifice of worship and let you give me the strength to carry on. The victory is yours. I just want to stay around to be a part of it.