You are not a failure because you want to quit, you are just tired of the condition you find yourself in.
Our most natural response to situations that we feel are beyond our control is to quit. People do not quit because they are weak, people quit because they have failed to find an alternative way out of a complex situation.
Quitting happens when we fail to reconcile our convictions about a situation usually with the actions of one in authority over us.
The desire to quit happens in many circumstances at work with the boss, at home with a husband or wife, in business partnerships, in relationships. etc.
Genesis 16:8-9
And he said. “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
But should we or should we not quit.
First, you have to gain perspective
1. God knows why & where you are: God identified the purpose and place of Hagar
the time: We are usually quitting from a place or location. In this case Hagar was the servant of Sarah: That’s the place where she was, that’s the location God had her in. That’s where God had her at that time. That was her station. When God identified her, he identified her in terms of the location and the authority over her. God identifies you by location under authority.
This identifies the place where you are. Where have you come from and where are you going? Notice that it highlights process: The process you have been going through. The pipeline of your life, the events in your life, your timeline.
God looks at process.
2. We look at destination: Where we want to end up.
Hagar answered:
“I am running away from my master.”
We on the other hand are running.
Ask yourself: What are you running away from?
Finding this will give you help you understand what is really going on inside you. That that you are running away from is what has you quitting.
The issue at hand is the tension between what you are running away from vs. where you are in God’s pipeline.
What are you running away from?
From mistreatment, injustice, abuse, exploitation, etc.
What is in God’s pipeline:
Strength, patience, forgiveness, grace, healing, reconciliation, mercy, compassion etc.
Second: Check your emotions.
§ Check yourself every time you are moving from a situation because of emotion and not leading.
§ We move most because of emotion; I am not happy here, I don’t love them anymore, I am not utilized, I am not happy, I am not appreciated, they don’t value me, they hate me, they are pushing me out, I am hurt. These are all valid emotions. But cannot be the reason you quit.
Things to consider:
· Are you being emotional? If you are, you could be walking away from your blessing? Have you heard people say, “I should not have left my job?” God was still using that situation and you left prematurely.
· Hagar’s attitude towards the boss was broken. God was still at work in Hagar’s attitude. Her eyes were on her boss and her wrongs, God’s eyes were on her attitude. There was still work pending in Hagar’s attitude. Is it possible your attitude towards your boss is off? Is it possible you think you are running away from your boss, but this boss just exposes attitudes and natures in you that you refuse to confront? Is that why maybe God has you there? Hagar was prideful, boastful and had developed a “I am better than you attitude towards her boss, Sarai”
· Is this the attitude you have developed because you feel more gifted, better suited for her/his role, more educated, better placed, more useful to the organization. In marriage, did your attitude change as a wife because you earn more money, are more exposed, you handle yourself in a more proper manner, your family is more presentable? Check yourself.
Genuinely check your emotion.
Third: What is God saying.
In Hagar case: She was told to
a) Return to your boss
b) Submit yourself to your boss.
God is saying:
1. Return to your boss:
i. See your boss as a tool in God’s hands to shape your mindset and attitude
ii. See your boss as the cover God will have you under right now.
iii. See your boss as the one responsible and contributing to the child you carry within you. However nasty, they have a part to play in the given you are about to give birth to. You have to let perseverance do it work James 1:4. Do not abort the process. If you do, you will abort your vision. And you will have to do this process again. Make sure that whether they want it or not, they play their part in your process.
2. Submit yourself to them:
i. Yield your will to them/to their office. This is a decision not a feeling.
ii. Serve in a way that is above reproach irrespective
iii. Do not allow their own inconsistencies to limit your effectiveness.
iv. 1 Corinthians 4:2. Prove yourself faithful.
v. Let God finish what He started in you.
Sometimes you must quit.
But when should I quit?
1. When the cloud moves: Numbers 9:17-23. Read
a. You must be able to only move when the Lord moves you on.
b. You must be able to lay low and wait until it’s his time.
c. His cloud is his presence and his peace not your feelings.
d. Search your heart even when your feelings are all over the place, ask yourself is Gods peace here. If it is, then the cloud has not moved.
2. When you are fired.
a. This is a sure way that God is leading you elsewhere. Most of us look at being firing as a loss not as a repositioning. Unless you are fired for a good reason, but if you are let go, the God is saying its time. This is the time to ask for a better opportunity. Every movement the cloud led, got them closer to the promised land. Ask God to get you closer with every closed door.
3. New opportunity opens up.
a. Sometimes God will lead up an opening in a new direction or another career all together. “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Many of us fear opportunities that are not familiar. Don’t be afraid the Lord will lead you.
4. When you have stayed there too long:
a. But when you are using this to know. Still inquire of the Lord and He will let you know. Some of us are waiting on God and yet God is waiting on us. When you get restless in your spirit. It’s time to inquire of the lord.
Conclusion:
Quit when you are ready. Don’t quit out of emotion.
The biggest frustration some of us have is we would rather quit right now; but there is no opportunity to leave. This may mean that God is not done with that piece of your pipeline. There is still a way you can find peace within the situation until God is done with it. Discernment is necessary: Is it time to leave but you fear or is it time to dig in?
Staying because of an emotion is as bad as living because of an emotion. For some of us God ha said Go but we fear to leave, while others God has not said Go but you are too angry to stay.
If you sense God leading, don’t just jump; Set some money aside, send out some fillers to look for opportunities, talk to people in your area of expertise. Make sure to utilize all the resources God has surrounded you with before you jump.
And then: You can jump.