Quitting In Faith

By pastorbillwalden

The life of faith has been made to be a bit confusing at times.  The Church, Christians, and the general public sometime assign strange parameters and guidelines about what having “faith” looks like. 

I think that the idea of “never quitting” is one of those strange guidelines and benchmarks.  We begin something in faith, and believe that in order to stay faithful to God, we must never quit said endeavor.

Another unbiblical sentiment is that of us wanting to know that we were right about the whatever venture of faith we took.  We set out to do something in faith, and if we quit, we feel like we have failed, and that others will believe that we failed, and that we “didn’t hear God” to begin with.

Certainly there are times when quitting is not the best option.  We can indeed initiate steps of faith towards a project, and then meet with difficulties, and want to quit.  There is opposition, loneliness, or things don’t turn out the way we had hoped.  Sometimes we ought not quit, but push forward in faith regarding what we believe God wants us to do.

However, I do believe that at other times, we ought to quit in faith.  We attempt something in faith, that effort brings mixed results, but after a time, through prayer and the inner witness of the Spirit, we feel released from that effort.

We start in faith, and we quit in faith. I don’t believe that to be a sign of weakness or immaturity.  To the contrary, I believe that “quitting in faith” is sometimes a great sign of maturity.

Consider the story of Abraham, who was called upon by God to offer his son.

Genesis 22:1-13 1Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

4Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” 6So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

8And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. 9Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

In faith, Abraham took his son to Mt. Moriah to offer him there.  He went through the emotional agony of being prepared to do what God asked him to do.  He put forth physical efforts to make preparations, gather some of his servants, and then travel three days to the chosen destination.  He was following through on what God had commanded him to do.

And then, at the last minute God changed Abraham’s direction.  Fortunately, Abraham obeyed.  I could understand the relief that he must have felt, but what if Abraham thought it was only his emotions speaking to him?  What if he thought that he would look foolish for having done so much to obey God, only to “quit” at the last moment?  There must have been other emotions that clashed with his relief of not having to offer his son.

What if Abraham thought “I must continue in faith”?  At that point, his continuance would have been disobedience, and not faith.  It was right for him to “quit in faith”.

We often continue when we should quit. Church leaders let certain ministries continue too long, because of the past efforts that have been put into those ministries, and the feelings that would be hurt if those ministries were discontinued.

A step of faith is blessed for a while, but then it’s effectiveness wanes. We prop it up, and eventually put it on life support, not realizing that God wants to do a new thing.

We become comfortable in our current condition. God blessed it in the past, and there is nothing inherently wrong with what we are doing, except that it is time to take new steps of faith.

We worry about what we will look like to others. We started something in faith, rallied others, and pronounced that we believed that “God was leading us” (indeed He may have been).  Friends and family cheer us on, and invest in what we are doing.  But after a season, we realize that it is time to quit.  God used the season, we WERE faithful, and now it’s time for something new.  It’s time to quit in faith.

We are not called to be successful.  We are called to be obedient. We are called to live lives of faithfulness.

I have begun many ministry efforts, and walked away from many as well.  I have grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of “quitting in faith”, and that doing so doesn’t make me a failure, but it prepares me for my next step of faith.