The Gift of Not Giving Up

It is a gift given by God to help us keep going and not give up.

Can you believe we're halfway into a new year? What a year, so far, it has been! 2020 brought with it significant life changes to all of us. This far into 2021 has also brought with it ongoing challenges that are directly related to 2020. Not one person was not in some way affected by life being altered and a halt to so much around us... the very things that are necessary to get through from day to day. It's been with fervor and a will within us each that we have weathered the changes of the last year and a half.

"That will which exists in individuals is the same will that gets us through the most life-changing and struggle-enduring experiences we face. It is that will we have... the very one that motivates us to move forward as being a gift." - Sheliea Athey

The gift given to us by God helps to keep us going and not give up. That may make zero sense in some respects because we sure don't think of our trials and struggles in life as gifts. On this side of pain and heartache in life, we very rarely, if ever, see the blessings that occur on the other side - when we've emerged from what negatively affected us.

But understand this! When life is overwhelming as the last year has shown us it can be and all we see in front of us are odds and struggles; uncertainty and angst, there are choices that we can make that will ultimately lead us to where we need to be.

It's in persevering that we are given the gift of not giving up. In those moments where things are too difficult or we are unsure of what to do or where to turn, it is God we know we can turn to for truth and it is in our persevering that we continue on.

It's through our faith in and dependence on God that we're given what we need in each moment and each day to keep going. Though we encounter seasons where it feels as if it would be easier to say, "I'm done!" God knows what we need in the moment(s) and gives us just enough to get through.

It's in our growth that we are able to truly recognize we are given a gift of not giving up!