I know what you’re thinking. A devotional insinuating quitting seems suspicious, right?
Well, consider this: Sometimes giving up is really just giving OVER control.
Sometimes we get anxious because we realize situations are beyond our locus of control. We give our best attempt at parenting, yet our kids rebel. We show up on time to work, commit our best efforts but never get the promotion. Worse, we eat healthy, plan annual Daniel Fasts, exercise, and are sold-out believers – yet we receive diagnoses beyond anything we could conceive.
Some things in life are just out of our control.
I remember being pregnant with my first child, Laia. At the time, I worked full-time as a middle school teacher at a high-performing school, but would leave each day exhausted. I believed my work with students (my babies) was meaningful. Their education mattered tremendously to me– but I couldn’t continue working the extensive hours and weekends while also being the mom I always dreamed I’d become. The 50-hour weeks, lesson planning weekends and laboring well into the night grading papers, returning phone calls, or rewriting assessment questions was not what I envisioned when planning to start a family.
When it was time to renew my teaching contract, I declined.
I had no job lined up. NO PLAN AT ALL!
As the school year came to a close, I began frantically applying and interviewing for anything within the realm of education that I thought would grant better flexibility and allow me time to be a mom.
I received offers, but EVERY SINGLE ONE fell through.
Defeated, I sat on the couch one afternoon, looked at my husband and said, “I give up”. I’m not looking anymore. I’m tired and nothing is working. We’ll just have to figure it out when the baby gets here.
Alex, my husband, (as nonchalant as ever- if you know him- you know I’m not joking. He RARELY worries) just said, “Ok”.
To be honest, I’m a planner who had NO plan. But for some reason, when you get to the end of your rope, when you’ve tried to control every detail possible – still failing nonetheless, it seems like that’s when God does his best work.
A few hours later, I received a call from a school leader looking for a data coach. The job was a contract position requiring just 15 hours per week and paid the same salary I had turned down when declining to renew my teaching contract. Might I add, I never applied to this job. It wasn’t a post on indeed.
BUT LOOK AT GOD!
GOD HAS NEVER LET ME FAIL!
(what I thought was failure- God worked our for my good!)
I believe that sometimes, he puts us in situations (or WE put OURSELVES in situations) that only God can overcome. So STOP and give it over to God. He won’t let you fail.
Here’s one promise you can rely on:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 KJB)
Soulwork: Write down a time God intervened for you. I'm sure there are multiple occasions, but pick one of your favorites. Post your memory somewhere you glance often. Make it a visual reminder of God's faithfulness towards you.
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