INSPIRASUNS

Many years ago, when we still lived up north, the Priest at our church had an answer to “Father, what are you giving up for Lent?”. He would always say, “I’m giving up giving up”. I used to think that was his polite way of saying that he wasn’t giving up anything for Lent. Well, he did say that occasionally, and it was always followed up with what he WAS doing for Lent.

Today’s little blog post isn’t about Lent, that’s for a blog weeks from now 🙂 . Today’s little blog is about giving up. You see, I think our priest back home wasn’t talking about physically giving up something for Lent. I think he was saying stop giving up. Stop losing hope, stop letting satan shake your faith, stop believing that you are alone. Give up giving up.

Last night, my husband and I watched the Bears game. They were playing their rivals, the Packers. It’s a pretty big rivalry, probably the oldest in the NFL. It was the first playoff game, and we hoped not the last for the Bears. The game started out well, the Bears first to score. Oh, sorry, I guess I should have mentioned that, ya, we’re Bears fans 🙂 . Well, things kind of went south after that with the Packers racking up an unanswered 21 points. I admit, my hopes fell, and we called it a night at halftime. Now granted, the game started late, and we had to be up early for church. However, I did feel that it would be an ugly score when I awoke in the morning.

Well, what I woke up to was a text from our youngest that the Bears had pulled it out, scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter! Granted that text came at almost midnight, so ya, I don’t think we would have seen the end of the game anyway. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I had yes…given up hope that they would pull it out. Well, obviously, the players and coaches did not give up hope, and they continued to play hard until the very end. It paid off, too.

Friends, it is easy sometimes to just throw in the towel. Life gets difficult, and sometimes hope feels lost. Challenges and difficulties come, and we feel we’re alone. We’re never alone, and the faith we have in Christ is what pulls us through. Even in the most difficult of times, it’s important to lean into our Lord and then…put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. Get back to the basics, the fundamentals, dive into God’s word, and let it bring you back to a place of faith and hope.

We could all take a lesson from the Bears last night. They didn’t give up, and they didn’t walk away. They stayed firm in their belief that they could achieve their goal, and they did.

We, too, can achieve the goal of a life that is one with Christ. Give up giving up, and let His love fill you with hope, faith, and joy.

Have a good day, friends, oh, and Go Bears 🙂 .

Mark 9:23
And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.”