Quitting is not an option

“Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.” That was the catchphrase for several lines of children’s roly-poly toys from Hasbro’s Playskool division created on July 23, 1971. (Yes, I am well aware that I am dating myself here.) The Weeble is shaped like and egg so the physic principle works as intended. The shape has a bottom which is smooth, and the vertical axis tapers to a smooth point. Just like an egg. The Weeble is filled with a heavier substance at the bottom, and a lighter substance at the top. This allows the Weeble to roll, regain its equilibrium, and become upright again. Tipping the Weeble causes the weight at the bottom to be lifted off the ground. But gravity brings the Weeble back to an upright position.

I am feeling like a Weeble lately. I keep getting knocked down. But thanks to God’s strength, I keep getting back up again!

“Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.” (2 Cor. 4:8-9 [TPT])

“Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise.” (Micah 7:8 [NIV])

“The steps of the God-pursuing ones follow firmly in the footsteps of the Lord, and God delights in every step the take to follow him. If they stumble badly they will still survive, for the Lord lifts them up with his hands.” (Ps. 37:23-24 [TPT])

“For the lovers of God may suffer adversity and stumble seven times, but they will continue to rise over and over again. But he unrighteous are brought down by just one calamity and will never be able to rise again.” (Prov. 24:16 [TPT])

I was listening to the radio just after I’d started the rough draft of this post. A band called 7eventh Time Down came on. I wondered what the origin of their name was, as I just typed the above verse. This is from the bio page on the band’s website.

“The name of the band was derived from 2 Kings 5, where an army commander with leprosy asked God’s prophet to heal him. He was told to go dip in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman initially refused to follow such foolish commands. But he later submitted to the idea, and the Bible says that after his seventh time down, he came up a clean man. It is the driving message of obedience that has resulted in 7eventh Times Down’s decision to follow God in this music ministry.”

Sometimes getting up again requires obedience. Keeping your faith in following what God is asking you to do, even if you keep getting knocked down. I know there are times when it feels easier to just stay down. I do not have the strength to pick myself up again. I’m happy to be laying still, on the ground (figuratively speaking) not moving. It requires less effort to lie still.

The enemy wants you to stay down. He’ll lie to you, telling you that it’s okay to stay down. You’ve worked hard and deserve a break. What will a little rest hurt?

But then that still, small voice tells me that I have the Spirit of the Ultimate Warrior living in me, who already fought and won the battle, so I can get up, fulfill my purpose and be obedient. So what do I do? I get up and start again. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty.” (Zech. 4:6 [NIV])

I’m pretty sure I remember a movie where a solider (Jesse Ventura) got shot, it seemed like there was a big ol’ gaping hole in him, and when asked if he was okay he replies, “it’s just a scratch.” That’s how I want to be when replying to the devil. Not today, you cannot keep me down, it’s just a scratch.

I choose to let the gravity of my purpose to remind me to firmly follow in the footsteps of the Lord, and remain upright, righteously pursuing God, and never giving up. The life I am living has me basking in the beautiful glory of my Lord, and that is too important to me to remain knocked down. Eternity important. Not only for me, but for those whom I come into contact with.

So I will continue to get up, brush myself off, and persevere with my motto being, “quitting is not an option.”

“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb. 12:3 [NIV])

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