When You Feel Like Giving Up

This past Sunday at Church of the Suncoast we talked about not giving up as life lesson number one in our new series. Wow! Little did I know I would be preaching to myself. This Sunday was the first time in a long time I locked the door on the storage trailer and thought about throwing in the towel. Maybe you can relate?

First we had some issues during band practice. For some reason the monitors were just off which got the band off which had them a little nervous for the service I think. They pulled it off, but it was tense I'm sure. We had some technical issues during the service which has not happened in almost a year! AND, the crowd was the smallest we have had in over a year!

Then as we are tearing everything down I got word that the CD didn't start recording for the first 3 minutes of the message. AND, this week just happened to be the week I said we would give everyone a free CD next week! Then I get word that the new carts we built to store all the children's, hospitality and stage stuff would not fit through the doors at our current school.

I felt like giving up. So I went back and reminded myself of the things I talked about. I hope they might encourage you as you try to grow a church or start one from scratch like us:

First, we need to be open and tell God how we feel. I know it is a challenge sometimes. But, if you are angry at God let him know. If you are disappointed let him know. Be honest with him. Express your feelings.

Then, we need to see how great, how good, how big and faithful our God is. The bigger God is in our lives the smaller our problems look. God is bigger than our obstacles, problems, and enemies.

Third, ask God for your next step. I wish we got the whole plan, but we only get a step. I wish I could see the whole plan behind why God sent us to this school and stopped us from the amazing growth that took place at the old one, but he gives me the next step. We move back to our target area on the 20th. Keep asking until you see where God is guiding.

Finally, trust him. Trust your Heavenly Father.

Keep the conversation going. Tell me what you think. Leave a comment.