Don't Give Up

Someone once said: Say to every hardship and struggle "Thank you God for this struggle. It is for my salvation." Someone with this deep wisdom will never be defeated!

Ever thought about giving up? Yeah, I know. What time is it? I confess to struggling with this temptation all the time. And the temptation to give up seems to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; from small to big things. Plus, we live in a modern culture that celebrates and even encourages “giving up.”

Or maybe it’s more “giving in.” There seems to be a tendency in humans to take the path of least resistance. But, as I tell my girls, stress, and pressure are necessary to orient us toward productive priorities. It’s how you handle it that matters.

The “easy path” of abandoning that which is hard flows from the foolish notion that a “happy” life is free of suffering or struggle. That lie continues to produce devastating consequences in the people who believe this lie. Their unreasonable expectations, their demands for ever-increasing “rights” to not be offended, and their perpetual adolescent attitudes create adults who can’t adult! By the way, when did “adulting” become a thing?

I thought that was the whole point of growing up!

Look at our lesson today in Hebrews 3:1-4:

HOLY BRETHREN, who share in a heavenly call, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in God’s house. Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honor than the house. (For every house is built by some one, but the builder of all things is God.)

The masterpiece of a sermon, the book of Hebrews, is a source of wisdom and powerful insight that none of us who follow Jesus should discount or dismiss. In other words, read this book in the Bible. Do it today!

And, as you read this book, notice how many times the author uses the idea that Jesus is better: a better sacrifice and a better priesthood. The keyword in Hebrews is better. Of course, that makes perfect sense because Hebrews is addressed to a group of Hebrew Christians considering leaving their new Christian faith and returning to their previous Jewish faith. They were thinking this because being a Christian was very unpopular in their day, and they were being persecuted because they were Christians.

This intense persecution was causing these Hebrew Christians to reconsider their conversion. But, let’s face it, in the face of real persecution, it’s hard to blame these folks. Understandably, they would be tempted to give up. Call it the ultimate “buyer’s remorse.”

But St. Paul repeatedly preaches in Hebrews that they are foolish to do this because Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises to our father Abraham in the First Testament.

Jesus is better than Moses. He even says as much early in the book of Hebrews.

But the key for us today in all this BETTER wisdom is how to avoid giving up on our faith or allowing our faith to become mere window dressing for our lives. To overcome that temptation to give up, we must “consider Jesus.”

Paul challenges us to avoid giving up by keeping our focus on the Person of Jesus Christ and His actions for our benefit. He challenges us to take seriously the life, death, resurrection, and present reality of Jesus Christ as the key to staying faithful even when it isn’t easy, like now!

Jesus is our “Apostle and High Priest.” All apostles and priests aren’t apostles and priests in themselves. No, they share in the one apostleship and priesthood of Jesus. If I am going to overcome the temptation to give up, I have to remember and find ways to remind myself daily, even sometimes moment by moment, that Jesus Christ is in charge.

He’s the Head, and we are His Body, the Church. I’m not in charge of my life. I have embraced the “heavenly calling” to follow Jesus. He’s the Lord of my life!

Jesus is Faithful to the One Who appointed Him. Over and over again in the Gospels, we hear the Lord say that He says only what the Father told Him to say. He only does what the Father told Him to do. And He even becomes obedient to a death on the cross, not allowing the temporary pain and suffering of that humiliating and excruciating death to keep Him from not giving up! So, if I am seriously a follower of Jesus, I am not going to allow the suffering and temporary pain or even ridicule of others about my faith to make me give up. I have one Lord, Jesus. I refused to give anyone or anything else the power to change that reality!

Tomorrow, we celebrate the feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross. The bizarre truth is that we Christians look at the Cross not as a symbol of defeat and torture and death but as a symbol of victory! The only way we can transform this moment of crucifixion is because the suffering, humiliation, torture, and death of Jesus Christ is not the end of the story! This is how we Christians can face hardship with faith and confidence. This is how we escape the temptation to give up when things are hard or scary! Someone has defeated all the terrifying moments of life, even our own death, so that we can stand firm no matter what!

So, today, are you suffering? Are you in pain? Are you considering giving up on your faith, or are you willing to hide it from others so they won’t think you are foolish? It’s time to consider Jesus and learn the humility and wisdom of living a purposeful, Normal Orthodox life!

P.S. We offer You in mediation the life-giving Cross which, of Your goodness, You have given unto us, the unworthy, O Lord. Save Your hierarchs and Your flock, and grant us Your peace through the Theotokos, O only friend of man.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack.