“Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.” Psalm 143:10………
Sometimes stopping isn’t quitting.
In my late teen years, I was told by my beloved Dad who truly meant the best for me though I couldn’t see it at the time that I was a QUITTER. That’s right. He called me a quitter. He said I quit all the big things I started essentially. Whether or not that was true, and truly can only be genuinely judged by the Lord, is besides the point. What happened as a result is that I became exceedingly tenacious to the point in later years I developed a very strong willed conviction that I should QUIT absolutely nothing – no matter what. After all, I had felt judged for quitting. So I better not quit again. Ever. So I pretty much learned to hold onto anything, or anyone, no matter the circumstances, no matter the consequences, no matter what.
The trouble is that there is in fact a time to STOP. Sometimes we have to STOP what we’re doing, or STOP being with the person or people we’re with, because GOD WANTS US TO STOP. Because what we’re doing is WRONG, because whom we’re with is WRONG, because God wants to take us in a NEW DIRECTION, because He is leading us ELSEWHERE, because a certain season of our lives has come to an end even if we don’t feel ready to move on, because we were NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE, because we’ve learned the lessons we’re meant to learn and now need to move forward, because we SERVED OUR PURPOSE THERE and now God has another plan for us, because where we are is simply a STEPPING STONE to where God is taking us, etc.
Sometimes we hang on to something, or to someone, because we feel like we’re a quitter if we let go, because we feel we shouldn’t quit because then we will have failed or fallen short or disappointed someone or because of what someone or some people might think of us or because we feel we would be disappointed in ourselves for quitting or because we’re afraid of making a change so we feel we better not quit, etc.
But friend, there is a time TO STOP, and a time TO CHANGE, and a time TO MOVE ON, and a time TO LET GO, and a time to MOVE FORWARD, and a time to CHANGE DIRECTION, and a time to SURRENDER OUR HOLD, and a time TO HOLD ON NO LONGER, a time to STOP HANGING ON, and a TIME TO ADVANCE, and a TIME TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP, and a TIME TO LEAVE BEHIND WHAT WE NEED TO LEAVE BEHIND.
And that time is THIS. That time is WHEN THE LORD TELLS US TO STOP. When He says NO MORE. When He says NO LONGER. When HE IS LEADING THE WAY. Instead of seeing this as quitting, as though we have failed, as though we have fallen short, we need to look at it from a different angle. From the perspective of LOVING AND TRUSTING AND OBEYING GOD ALMIGHTY.
Is He telling you to STOP?
Please obey the Lord, you for whom this message is. Please STOP for Christ’s sake. Follow His lead. Let the Spirit of God lead the way. To wherever He is calling you. To whomever He is calling you. For the glory of the Lord God most high.
When it’s time to STOP, and your’e clear He has told you to STOP, and to move on, then STOP. And follow Him. Wherever He may so lead you.
Amen.