Don't Give Up

Even when it hurts to keep going, sometimes it's the best option.

Or so I learned when went ice skating last weekend.

I'd only been skating once before, and honestly, I didn't like it too much. This time was a little better. I learned to enjoy it more. So, apparently, you have to tie the skates really tight, so tight that you can barely move your legs forward. While it kept me from falling, it wasn't the least bit compartable. And it hurt my feet. A lot.

I couldn't skate for long periods of time. In fact, I had to go take a two minute break every time I went twice around the huge skating rink. But every time when I got out again, I felt good. Minutes later, my feet would hurt again. To my dismay, I felt like I couldn't go on.

Isn't that just like life? Time after time, year after year, it's one cycle. We get hurt. We fail. We convince ourselves to get back again. Just when we've risen, when we think we can conquer the world, reality sets us again and pushes us down.

And then we hurt again.

But, through my ice skating experience, I learned that the best way to deal with the pain was to keep going. Keep kicking off on my foot. Keep moving forward. As cliché as that sounds, over the past few weeks, I've realized it's true.

Because what is the other option? Give up. Dwell in our sadness, even forget the light of life. That, in of it itself, does not any better. I think it will hurt worse if you give up. Because then, you will be forced to focus on your pain, the unfairness of life. That won't feel good either.

But there comes a time when we can't go on, one way or another. I know I've felt it. Then what do we do? If we trust in ourselves, we will only fail sooner or later. No one can endure forever. We fall and can't get up.

What do we do then?

We turn to the one who can pick us back up, the one who feels our pain, knows our sin, and loves us despite of it. Jesus. That week was tough for me. I felt like I couldn't deal with it anymore. But that's when I realized that I was never dealing with it. Jesus was keeping me breathing. Even in the depths of my sin, He still hears my prayer.

Please keep going.

"Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30