When You Want to Quit: Endurance, Obedience, and Staying in the Process

When You Want to Quit: Endurance, Obedience & Staying in the Process

What do you do when you’re tired, frustrated, and ready to walk away? This episode is a reminder that obedience requires endurance. Keep trusting God, stay in the process, and don’t quit before the promise.

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Have you ever been in a place where you knew God gave you the assignment, but you were tired of carrying it.

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E Have you ever been in a place where you knew God gave you the assignment, but you were tired of carrying it? Not because you stopped believing, not because you stopped loving God, but because you got weary. This episode is for the person who has wanted to shut the notebook, walk away from the project, and just say, Lord, I don't know if I can keep doing this. The good news is God's word has a lot to say about endurance, and his instructions are not just for getting started, they are also for staying in the process. This is Vision and Ink, it is written. Let's get into it. Hey hey y'all, welcome back to Vision and Ink It Is Written. I am your host, Janella Harper, author, publisher, and someone who understands that sometimes the hardest part is not starting. Sometimes the hardest part is staying faithful in the middle. This podcast is for everybody, but I'm always speaking from my lens as an author and publisher. So yes, we're talking to writers today, but we're also talking to anybody who's trying to stay obedient in a long process. Today's episode is called When You Want to Quit, Endurance, Obedience and Staying in the Process Edit. Today's episode is called When You Want to Quit Endurance, Obedience and Staying in the Process. We're going to talk about what scripture says about not growing weary, what endurance looks like when life gets heavy, and how authors can keep moving without letting discouragement write the ending. Before we dive in, let's pray. Father God, thank you for every person listening to this podcast. You know who is tired, you know who is discouraged, you know who feels like they've been trying, writing, obeying and waiting for a long time. Your word says not to grow weary in doing good, because in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So strengthen us today, Father God, for every author listening, breathe on their manuscript, their message, and their mind. For every person listening, breathe on their assignment and remind them that obedience is never wasted. Give us endurance, wisdom, and a fresh strength. In Jesus' precious and mighty name we pray. Amen. Now let's start here. Endurance is not a personality trait. Endurance is biblical. Galatians six nine says, Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Edit That means weariness may come, but quitting is not the instruction. James one tells us that testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Romans five says suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character, and character produces hope. So when you're in a hard middle place, that does not automatically mean you miss God. Sometimes it means God is building something in you while you keep moving in what He told you to do. Hebrews twelve tells us to run with endurance the race set before us, fixing your eyes on Jesus. That means your race is not random. It is set before you and your job is to keep running. Hebrews twelve tells us to run with endurance the race set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. That means your race is not random. It is set before you and your job is to keep running it with your eyes on him, not on who is ahead of you, behind you or talking about you. So if you've been feeling weak in the process, let this encourage you. Endurance is not proof that something is wrong. Endurance is often part of the assignment. Now let's talk about the part that gets real. Sometimes what makes people want to quit is not just the work, it's the delay. The wait. You prayed, you wrote, you obeyed, and it feels slow. But Habakkuk two and two says write the vision, make it plain. And when it says that and then Edit and then it says that even if the vision seems slow, wait for it because it will surely come. I remember when I was going through a season with my son and he added, I remember when this became my favorite verse. I was going through an issue with my special needs son, and I was absolutely exhausted and weary, didn't know what I was supposed to do. And it's literally like God put a sign, a blinking sign in front of my face with the scripture. And it said, Be not weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not. And when I tell you I held on to that scripture, I held on. And God is faithful. That is all I can tell you. He is faithful. That means that Danet edit. That means that delay is not always denial. Sometimes development. Sometimes God maturing you for the thing you keep asking for. Isaiah forty and thirty one says those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. So waiting is God added. So waiting in God is not wasted time. Waiting in God is where strength gets renewed. And for authors, this matters because not every manuscript moves fast, not every book gets immediate support. Not every project pops right away, but that does not mean it has no oil on it. Sometimes you are hidden for a season, and hidden does not mean forgotten. Now let me talk directly to my authors. Some of y'all are tired for very specific reasons. You started a book and got stuck. You got excited in the beginning, but now the middle feels heavy. You thought support would come faster. You thought publication would happen quicker. You thought obedience would feel more glamorous than this. But First Corinthians fifteen and fifty eight says to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. That means if God gave you the assignment, the labor is not wasted. If God edited, if it is God's will, it is God's bill. All you need to do is follow what it is that He is asking you to do. So let me say this plainly. Do not let discouragement write the ending of something God told you to keep working. Do not let comparison edit your obedience. Do not let delay convince you to throw away what God is still breathing on. Do not let a hard middle make you call the whole vision dead. Sometimes endurance for an author looks like writing one page instead of ten, revising without shame, resting without quitting, praying over the project again. Going back to the last thing God clearly said. Revelations one and eleven says write what you see. That means your responsibility is obedience. You are not responsible for being everybody's favorite. You are responsible for being faithful to what God showed you. Now let's talk about the kind of endurance that gets overlooked. Obedience when nobody is clapping. Episode three dealt with qualification. Episode four dealt with support. So now we have to talk about staying faithful when the applause is low and the process is long. Colossians three reminds us that whatever we do, we do it unto the Lord. That matters because sometimes the reason people want to quit is that they are looking for validation from people who were never meant to confirm them. People may not support you the way you hoped. People may not understand what God told you. People may not celebrate until after the fruit shows up. But if God said it, do it. Then the instructions still sink. Edit. But if God said do it, then the instructions still stand. Luke eighteen teaches that we ought to always edit. Luke eighteen teaches that we ought always to pray and not lose heart. That means losing heart is a real temptation, but prayer keeps us steady. So if you're in a quiet season, keep obeying. If you're in a low, slow season, keep obeying. If you are in a misunderstood season, keep obeying. Not because it feels easy, but because God is faithful. Let's make this practical Edit. What does endurance actually look like this week? For the everyday listener, stay faithful to what God already told you. Stop measuring edit. Stop measuring your obedience by how fast you see results. Keep praying, keep showing up, keep honoring God in the middle. For the author. Reopen the manuscript. Revisit the outline. Write something small if that's all you have today. Pray before you create. Stop calling yourself behind when God may simply be taking you through the process. Philippians three talks about forgetting what lies behind and pressing towards what lies ahead. That means you cannot keep staring at what you didn't finish last year and use it as proof that you can't finish it now. One faithful step still counts. One honest prayer still counts. One returned page still counts. The goal is not perfection. The goal is endurance in obedience. All right, let's move into our takeaway. Today's takeaway is three things to remember when you want to quit. Number one, delay is not always denial. Habakkuk two and two says if the vision seems slow, wait for it. Number two, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Corinthians fifteen and fifty eight settles that. Galatians six and nine is still true, even in the middle. Write those down, pray over them, and come back to them when you feel tired. Another seed planted, water it well. Water this seed with prayer, scripture, and one more act of obedience. Edit. Before we close in prayer, I want to highlight a resource that connects directly to what we're talking about today. I wrote a book called From Revelation to Promise in the Wilderness. This book speaks to the space between what God revealed and what you have to edit. This book speaks to the space between what God revealed and what you have actually seen manifested. It speaks to the wilderness place, the in between place where God has spoken, but you are still walking, still waiting, and still being shaped. If you know God has said something to you, but your life still feels like wilderness, from revelation to promise in the wilderness is meant to help you stay anchored in what God said while you move through the middle. Think of this episode as the conversation and the book as a place where you can sit longer with what it means to endure between revelation and promise. Let us pray. Father God, strengthen at it. Father God, strengthen every person who feels tired in the middle. For the one who wants to quit, remind them of Galatians six and nine. For those who feel delayed, remind them of Hebekah too. For the one who thinks their labor has been wasted, remind them of 1 Corinthians fifteen and fifty eight. For the authors listening, give them grace to reopen what they closed. Give them courage to continue what you started in them. Give them strength to endure the hidden parts of the process. And for everyone listening, help us fix our eyes on Jesus and run with endurance the race that you have set before us. In Jesus' precious and mighty name. Amen. Alright, now let's do a quick recap before we go. We talked about endurance being biblical. We talked about delay is not always denial. Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Remember, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Authors and everyday listeners both need obedience in the middle, not just excitement at the start. Today's takeaway don't grow weary. Wait for the vision and keep moving. Another seed planted water it well. Thank you for spending time with me on Vision and Ink it is written. If this episode spoke to you, subscribe. Thank you for spending time with me on Vision and Ink, it is written. If this episode spoke to you, subscribe to Vision and Ink, it is written, so you don't miss out on what is written. Edit. Subscribe to Vision and Ink, it is written. So you don't miss out on what God edit. So you don't miss out. Edit. So you don't miss what God is building over here. Share this with someone who needs encouragement in their calling or their pages. And if you're an author or aspiring author, make sure you join our email list so you can get updates on new episodes, free resources, and book releases designed to help you obey God with your life and your ink. Next time, we're closing out the season and we're going to talk about what this season has really been building calling covenant obedience and the written word. I'll see you in the next episode. This is Janella Harper with Vision and Inc. It is written.