The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Feel Like Quitting?

Episode Date: June 16, 2017

Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel? Whether its a job, a relationship, a life situation, or a health complication, there are times when we just feel like quitting. Jeff wants to share with us inspiration for those tough times, and so he tells the story of three Bible heroes who demonstrated remarkable tenacity in the face of incredible obstacles.

You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. Episode 20, Feel Like Quitting? Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show.

Welcome to the show, my friend. You are joining me deep in the woods of Minnesota. I'm in the log cabin and just taking a few minutes to contemplate, to think about my relationship with the Lord and all the good things that he has done in my life. And I'm going to be talking today about a topic that everybody has to face at one time or another, and that is quitting. And that's not what I'm thinking about right now, but I have run into a number of people recently who have said to me in various areas of their life, all the way from

relationships to ministry in their life or a job. I just feel like quitting. I feel like quitting. And I want to talk about that today. And I want to introduce you to one of the ingredients to the Christian's life that will really make a difference in your life when you come to that barrier, when you really do feel like quitting. And trust me, I've been there. I've been there many times, you know, where various things happen in life. It might be that a relationship has gone sour. Something has happened in a relationship with someone. You just feel like walking away. It's better to start over. I don't want to put up with this, you know. It might be a job that you have been in and you just feel like you want to quit, but that might not be what the Lord has called

you to. And then again, there are situations in our life where We're just overwhelmed. You know, we're overwhelmed by stress. We're overwhelmed by the schedule of our children, our social media, you know, email and Twitter and Facebook and everything. And we just feel like dropping out. So I get it. And I want to talk about that today. And I'm going to go into the Bible and use a particular story from 2 Samuel chapter 23 about David's Mighty Men.

But before we do that, I want to share with you, I got one email here that was very, very touching, from Krista. And Krista wrote, and by the way, you can write me. I'll give you the information in just a moment. But she said, hello, Jeff, I'm delighted to find your podcast. I remember hearing you speak at the Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta many years ago. Yay, Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta, they do a great job. I think I've been there like three or four times. she said i remember the stories that you told us that day they still speak to me about jesus

faithfulness and realness in this world and she said i'm the mother of four children ages 10 to 2 believe it or not she said the thought of my kids growing complacent in their faith and leaving the church causes me no small amount of anxiety i think i think christa is responding to the show we did a little while ago about your children leaving the church you can check that on on iTunes. She said, I was so humbled to hear your biblical reference to our planting and watering as parents. Thank you for the gentle reminder of who truly makes things happen. I also was so glad to hear in advance about potential parental pitfalls I otherwise wouldn't have been aware of, perhaps until it was too late. He said,

thank you so much again for your words of hope and wisdom and for allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through you, drawing us closer to our father. Well, Krista, Thank you for writing, and I appreciate your feedback. And by the way, if you want to write me, you can simply write me. The email is The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. That's the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And once again, you can go to iTunes and subscribe to the show there. Tell your friends about it.

Appreciate your comments and rating the show. And you can also go to ascensionpresents.com forward slash podcasts. every show, we provide the show notes for you because we know that you might just pee in the car and we don't want you taking notes while you are driving in the car. Okay, we're going to talk today about a topic, and that is quitting and whatever it might be. And I want to start off by saying, you know, I'm not saying that if you're in a situation where you feel like quitting, you simply shouldn't quit. I'm not saying that at all. You have to discern that. And that comes through prayer and getting good counsel. And if you're married, you talk this over with your spouse

and make sure that your decision really lines up with the Word of God, yes, but it also lines up with your vocation, with your calling in your life. And it's a benefit to your family rather than just something that you want to do because you're uncomfortable. I'm reminded of what Jesus said. He said, in this world, you're going to have tribulation. Okay, that's a given. You're going to have tribulation in this world. But he said, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So I want to start by saying that simply because you feel like quitting something and you feel like you've run into a barrier in a wall, that the obvious decision is, well, I'm going to quit. That isn't always necessary at all. And what I'm going to share with you today is that in many

cases, it means that we need to persevere even more. So I'm going to talk to you about tenacity. Tenacity is a term that we have used previously in some of our shows. It's a term that accurately describes the personalities of people who are associated with the kingdom of God. And that is tenacity. In biblical terms, you could say faithfulness, faithfulness. And we should be known as a people who press on with determination when times get really tough, because our chief motivation is really to honor God. And when you are carrying the word of God in your heart

and you are living as a Christian, you're going to get opposition. You're going to run into some difficulties. But the answer is not always quitting. It may be persevering and walking in a tenacious way. Now, the story that I'm going to read to you from Scripture comes from 2 Samuel, chapter 23, verses 8 through 12.

And this is one of those portions of scripture that a lot of people are not familiar with. And it simply is a rundown of three of King David's mighty men. As you remember, about a thousand years before Jesus, you have King David. And he was the second king in Israel, a mighty man. He had his problems, too. That's true.

And I'm sure he felt like quitting at times, you know. But he had the benefit of having three members of his army that he recognized what they did in difficult times. And they are now written in the Bible for eternity. We read about these three characters because they no doubt wanted to quit, had the opportunity to quit, and yet they persevered. And all three of them represent different aspects of life that I'm hoping, that you'll identify with. Okay, so I'm gonna first of all, what I'd like to do is read this,

and then we're gonna one by one go through these three individuals real quickly here and look at what they were tenacious about and see if we can't come up with some hope and some encouragement for you and what you're going through. And I don't know what you're going through right now. It could be something in a relationship, it could be something in your job, finances,

your health, limitations in your life now. that have suddenly come due to an accident or disease or, you know, whatever it might be. But tenacity. Tenacity is keeping a firm hold of not easily pulled asunder. It's the keeping on and keeping on tenacity. It's faithfulness. And this is the ingredient to every successful Christian life. Now let's read this together, shall we?

It starts with second, we're in Second Samuel, chapter 23 versus 8 through 20. 12, listen to this. It says, these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. And then it goes into them. Josheb Bashabhahb. He was, we'll call him Joseph. Joseph. He was chief of the three of the mighty men. It says that he wielded his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time. All right. We're going to talk about him. Next. Next to him. verse 9, among the three mighty men was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the son of Ahoy. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle and the men of Israel withdrew. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand cleaved to the

sword and the Lord wrought a great victory that day and the men returned after him only to strip the slain. Now the third one, verse 11, next to him was Shama. the son of Aggie, the herrite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehigh, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it. He defended it and slew the Philistines

and the Lord wrought a great victory. Now one translation says about verse 12 there, he took his stand in the midst of the plot of lentils. lentils. Now, lentils are beans, okay? So we're going to get back to that. So we've got three guys. One, he slew 800 of the enemy. Another one, he fought so long and hard that his hand was stuck to the sword. And Sharma, this last one, Sharma, he defended a bean field, a ground full of lentils. Okay? That's what it says in verse 11 there. So let's look at what these three mighty men of David might represent. in terms of tenacity and how that might really speak to you in what you're going through in your life today.

So number one, we have Josheb, okay, in verse 8. Josheb slew 800 Philistines. Now, to me, this represents, number one, tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. Tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. 800 Philistines, he slew it one time. Time. Let me ask you this. Have you been in a situation or are you in a situation where you feel like you're up against overwhelming odds? It's just like things are coming at you left and right. It might be at work combined with the children, combined with health issues, combined with maybe your parents are growing old and you have to take care of them. One thing after another is hitting you and you feel like you're facing overwhelming odds. That's Josheb. He slew 800 Philistines. The odds of victory seem nearly astronomical. You got to put yourself in his position for a moment. This guy probably didn't know that there were

800 Philistines. Just like if wherever you're at, where you're at right now in your life, if you were to back up, you know, seven months ago, you would not have anticipated what you're going through right now. My wife and I were talking at breakfast this morning, and we were talking about a family that survived the Holocaust from Hungary and Romania. And they both met each other in their teens after the war, after liberation in 45, and they fell in love in a hospital and they got married. But if they had met each other when they were 10, no one would have even believed the life ahead of them in what they were going to go through. In fact, they probably would have checked out at that point.

You know, sometimes I think it's God's grace that we don't know the whole story in our life and what we might be facing. Joseph is going to be facing 800 Philistines, but it started with one. It started with one, the first one. And he took on that first one. And the emphasis here is on his strength,

or rather isn't on his strength. The emphasis isn't on his strength. emphasis is on the 800. In other words, his tenacity. So imagine the temptation to stop after, say, five. You know, you're fighting with the sword and you've got one Philistine down and all of a sudden there's another one and you're fighting that one, the third one, the fourth one, the fifth one, right about the fifth one, I would have started to ask myself, is it time to quit? You know, is it time to withdraw? Is it time to run? Is it time to blame and scream and self-medicate and everything else? No.

He just kept on going. And you see, that's what tenacity is. That's biblical tenacity. And that's what he did. So he got up to 123, and he kept going. He got up to 216, and he kept going. He was at 391, and he kept going. And he kept going up to 5-11 and 629.

And 748, he kept going. what would have happened if he would have given up at 798 or 799? What if he would have just gone hopeless at that point? He didn't. He kept going. See, this is tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. And I want to take just a second here, my friend, to encourage you. And what you are going through right now, I want to remind you what Paul said.

Paul said in Philippians chapter 4, and these are in the show notes, Philippians chapter 4 versus 12 through 13, he basically said, I'm just going to narrow it down, give you a synopsis, don't dwell on the past. You don't dwell on the past. In other words, in Joseph's instance here, tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds, we don't dwell on the last Philistine, or two Philistines ago, or 20 Philistines, There are 100 Philistines ago, we look at what it's in front of us right now, and we remain

faithful, tenacious. And I know if you're going through difficulties with teenagers and that type of thing, I've been there. I've been the source of difficulties from my father and mother, I'm sure, but we have teenagers. I know, I know. It might be number 612. You just keep on going. Paul also said in Philippians 4 in verse 13, part of this past.

passage, he said, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And that really is the truth, my friend, is that you can do all things to Christ who strengthens you. Paul said, I have learned to deal with, you know, to live with a lot, and I've been blessed, and I've learned to live with a little, but I know I have discovered the secret of tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds, and that is, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. So whatever you're going through right now. I want you to just right now just say, Jesus, you can even pause this broadcast. Jesus, I trust you. And I know that in my situation right now, that it seems overwhelming in terms of the odds, I can trust you. I can do all things through you who strengthen me. So that's that's an

important point to remember. Hey, listen to this story. This might be encouraging to you. I found this a number of years ago, and I never forgot it. And I kept it in my note. all these years when I think about tenacity. There was a man living in a suburb of Kansas City, and he lost both of his hands in a premature explosion while blasting stone. And in that explosion, his face was also torn. Now, the surgeons, they did all that they could for him, but his eyesight was utterly destroyed.

His eyesight was gone, and he had become a Christian only a year or two before the accident. Now, in that year or two before the accident, after he became a Christian, he said that the Bible was his delight, and his distress at being no longer able to read it was defeating. And he heard about a lady in England

who read the Braille type with her lips. He was really excited about this. So some friends ordered for him parts of the Bible in the moon rays type and you could hardly wait till their arrival. But alas, the explosion had destroyed the nerves of his lips. There was no sense of touch there. And when he got that Braille type script and tried to read it with his lips, he wept over the book and he stooped to kiss it farewell. And when he did that, he happened to touch it with his tongue. His teacher recalls that he quickly learned to read the raised characters by running his tongue along them.

That to me is very, very powerful. Now, I have read the whole Bible through, I don't know, five, six times, something like that. And many, many books over and over and again. and this man demonstrates a tenacity that has gone beyond anything that I have ever experienced in my life in reading. He demonstrated tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. He read the scriptures with his tongue and was filled with joy. So what about you? You know, what are your barriers? What is trying to stop you from enjoying the Lord's victory? This Joseph character, which, by the way, means to dwell in quiet.

His name means to dwell in quiet. He experienced the victory of the Lord and the joy of the Lord simply by being tenacious at what God had given him. Now, I'm going to take a break. When I come back, we're going to get into Eliezer. This guy experienced tenacity and demonstrated it in an amazing way in the face of overwhelming fatigue. And that's what we're going to talk about.

right after this. Hey guys, this is Shana from Ascension. I don't know if you've heard, but with Ascension's new digital delivery platform, you can start a study with anyone anywhere. Here's how to do it. First, go to ascensionpress.com and create a free online account. Once you're there, preview any of our study programs for free, and choose the one you'd like to leave.

Then, find at least three friends, family members, or coworkers who want to do the study with you. Once you have your group, make sure everyone registers to receive their study materials. Then, you're ready to go. Meet with your group in person, online, or both. It's that simple. Welcome back. Welcome back. Today we're talking about tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds.

We're facing that question, should I quit? Do you feel like quitting? And the answer is, well, yes, you might feel like quitting. but quitting isn't always the option. Oftentimes God calls us to persevere and to press beyond these obstacles in our life. We just talked about Josheb, and he demonstrated tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds.

Now we're moving on to Eliezer in verses 9 and 10. Eliezer, he demonstrates tenacity in the face of overwhelming fatigue. Listen to what it says about him. Next to him among the three mighty men was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the son of O'Hohai. Maybe that was part of his problem right there. Imagine they had problems back in grade school. Who's your father? Dodo.

Of course, it's a different language. So he was with David when they defied the Philistines, who were gathered there for battle and the men of Israel withdrew. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand cleaved to the sword and the Lord brought a great victory. So this is tenacity in the face of overwhelming. fatigue. Have you ever been there? Have you? I remember a time where I'm getting as close to

this as I can. I'm trying to describe this. I came back from Israel. One time I take a pilgrimage every January with my wife. We lead people over there and study the Bible on location. And then one time I was so tired at the end of the pilgrimage. And I had to wait till the, I think it was one in the morning flight out of Tel Aviv. I hadn't slept for a day or two. and I couldn't sleep on the airplane on the way back. And when I arrived back in the States, I was so tired and fatigued that you almost wanted to start crying and say,

Mommy, I mean, you know what I mean? You're just spent. And most of us have had instances in our life, experiences where we have really tasted fatigue like never before. And in this case, this guy is fighting and all of his friends left him when the chips were really down. And it says he fought until his hand clung to the sword. Now, I'm going to give you a little exercise here to do

to give you an idea what this might feel like. If you stick out your index finger on your left hand, take your right hand and grab around your finger and then squeeze. Go ahead and do it. You can do it right now. No, if you're driving, don't do it, but do it later. But you can squeeze and squeeze and squeeze and do not let up. Do not let up. Squeeze for a minute, a minute.

Seems like a long time, but do it, do not stop. Don't stop. Keep on squeezing, keep on squeezing, keep on squeezing. Now, at the end of the minute, let's go a little bit longer, keep squeezing, keep squeezing, keep squeezing. Go as long as you can here, and then don't let your hand off of the finger, just barely take your right hand and ease up a little bit. And then pull your finger out, but don't straighten your right hand out. Now, what I want you to do is I want you to slowly try to stretch out your fingers. You will experience a sensation that must have been what Eliezer was experiencing,

and that is, my hand is stuck, and that's what he experienced. He put the sword in his hand with a conviction that would not be discouraged, even though everyone else left. and we see the men later return to, you know, take part in the, you know, the winnings of the war. Eliezer was an inspiration to them. Now, in your life, what is it that's causing the fatigue in your life? Is it the long hours that you're working? Is it, do you feel abandoned by other people?

I run into people who said that they were on church boards before, church councils, and they felt like they were the only one that was really doing the work. Everybody else seemed to abandon. Or maybe you're a student in college and you are part of a joint group project where three or four of you are supposed to work on a project and you're doing it. But when it came time to really doing the work,

the other three kind of bowed out and you're stuck and you want the good grade. Maybe you understand what Eleazar went through. You see, sometimes we don't realize the degree to which we influence others by our perseverance. And that's what Eliezer did. tenacity in the face of overwhelming fatigue. How many times around the house have you felt fatigued and abandoned? How many times at the office have you felt worn out and left

alone? Do you have thoughts like, oh well, no one else is serious? If your motivation is Jesus, it won't matter what others are doing. It doesn't matter what their thoughts are. motivated by Jesus. You are a tenacious person because you're doing it unto the Lord. Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 through 3 says consider him Jesus who endured opposition from sinful men so you will not grow weary and lose heart. If you're if you're experiencing this overwhelming fatigue in your life right now consider Jesus who endured opposition. He's been there my friend so you'll not grow weary and lose heart cling to him. Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter 3 in verse 17 he said whatever you do in word or deed

do it all to the glory of God I love it Paul wrote to the Corinthians 1 Corinthians 1031 once again keep those hands on the steering wheel these are in the show notes whatever you do do it all for the glory of God it's a powerful powerful lesson lesson and then let's look at the third one. You know, we've got two so far. One is tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. That's, that is joshab. And then we have eleazar, tenacity in the face of overwhelming fatigue. And now we have Shama. Shama. Let me just read this to you. And then I'll tell you what I think this represents. In verse 11 and 12, it says, next to him was Shama, the son of Aggie, the Herite. The Philistines gathered together at

Lehigh where there was a plot of ground full of lentils and the men fled from the Philistines but he took his stand in the midst of the plot defended it slew the Philistines and the Lord wrought a great victory. Now let's think about this for a second. Okay. God saw fit to mention these three guys for your benefit and Shama is doing what? Well he's not defending an airbase he's not he's not leading a troop into battle like you know a heroic warrior he is defending a bean field a bean field that's what god gave him to do shama was responsible for gathering there and defending a plot of ground full of beans now it would have been excited to defend the White House for the president. I would have been up for that. Okay, I'll do that.

But it seems insignificant, doesn't it? To put your life on the line for something like a plot of beans? This, my friend, is tenacity in the face of a seemingly humble or insignificant assignment. How many of us have looked at ourselves in the mirror and said, what are you doing with your life. You could be out there doing so many great things, yet you've got to take care of these children, or you have to take care of this job that you have at work that your boss is expecting you to do. It may seem insignificant, but if the Lord wants the bean field, it is a greater assignment than the White House. I remember a teacher said to me one time years ago, I would rather be out in the desert alone and in the middle of God's will, then laying on the beach in Waikiki outside of God's

will. Do you ever feel like what you do is insignificant? Do you ever feel like it's petty? Do you, maybe you teach a confirmation program for high school kids? Maybe there's only six or seven of them there. And you're thinking yourself, boy, is this really worth your time? It can seem like insignificant assignment but if it's the Lord that has given you this responsibility it is invaluable it's invaluable you see the world doesn't see what we do the way we do and the way the Lord sees it he sees the heart he sees the eternal benefits the world is all about today and it's all on the outside of facade we're not like that the important thing to remember here is that it is

not the size of the assignment, but who assigned it. That's what makes it valuable. And if he assigned it to you, it is holy, it is special, and you should feel honored. Parents, let me just say something about parenting for a moment, because I've got three girls. There are so many children in the world. Why focus only on yours? That's a question, you know, to think of about, let's say you have four kids, why do you focus so much attention on those four kids? And there's a lot of kids in the world, and there's a lot of orphans in the world. Well, the reason that you are not focusing on the thousands is that those four are the ones that God gave to you. And you know what? I'll say something here, and I don't mean it disrespectfully,

no one else in this world cares as much about your kids. Nobody. I don't, my neighbors don't, and that's because God has not uniquely given that assignment to me for your children, but he has given it to you. You remember a few years ago, they had this whole craze that came out of beanie babies, and everyone was collecting beanie babies, and they started collecting hundreds of them thinking, oh, it's going to be a collector's item, they're going to be worth something. Right. Go on eBay today and see how much that you can get for them.

Not much. But it was a craze, these beanie babies. I want to suggest that your children, if you're a parent or grandparents, your children just might be the beanfield that God has called you to. They're your beanie babies from God. And I know that with my three girls, when they were growing up, we lived in a house in Minnesota. And I said, Lord, these are the three girls you've given me.

And I'm going to defend this beanfield. And I'm not going to let porn come in here. I'm not going to let the world come in here. I'm going to make sure that I protect them from boys. I mean, I was just really a protective soldier over my girls. Why? Because they're my girls. And God gave them to me to protect them and to love them and to guide them

and to teach them. They're my beanie babies. The original beanie babies. Mothers, your attitude towards your children should be this is one beanfield that the enemy will not get. Men, your children as well, but maybe you're at work. This could be for men or women.

Maybe you're at work. And God has given you an assignment at work. That's your job. You can stand and you can defend that beanfield and make sure the enemy does not get in and this is going to be to honor God. Wow. Really something to think about.

I want you just to think for a moment about the beam fields in your life and the seemingly insignificant assignment. God has called us to tenacity. He's called us to be faithful in all that we do. And so I kind of want to wrap this up by just encouraging you in whatever you're going through in your life right now. Do you feel like you're facing overwhelming odds? Do you feel like you're facing overwhelming odds?

Do you feel like you're facing overwhelming? overwhelming fatigue. Do you feel like you are facing an insignificant assignment in your life, a humble assignment? The key and the response to all of these is faithfulness and tenacity. Sometimes we just need to hear that. We just need to hear a brother or sister in Christ say, you know, keep going. Keep going because it's worth it. If the Lord has given us this assignment, it's worth it. So I want to encourage you to keep on. keep it on and you know I'm reminded of what James said in chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 he talks about perseverance and he said perseverance must finish its work

you're beautiful so whatever you're facing right now at work home kids money health whatever perseverance must finish its work perseverance in the Christian life tenacity in the Christian life isn't just a starter it's a finisher we finish and we finish well. It isn't those that start the race. It's those that finish the race and Christ will lead us and guide us. Perseverance must finish its work, James says, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. As you look at every discipline in life, whether it's music, math, sports, teaching, raising children, the key ingredient is tenacity. and every world-class athlete, every world-class violinist, every master-teacher, every successful parent

will tell you that they have had many opportunities to quit. You thinking about quitting? Go to the Lord. Go to the Lord and ask him to give you that tenacity and keep your eyes on him. once again I'm going to pray with you at the end here but I do want to remind you if you have some ideas for shows go ahead and give me an email the jeffcaven show at ascensionpress dot com love to hear from you love to hear your response to these shows as we talk sometimes about just neat things in life and other times we talk about topics from the Bible but

it's everyday living it's really it's really all about becoming a modern day disciple. That's what we want to talk about. So let me pray for you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I thank you for my brother. I thank you for my sister who is joining me on this show right now. Lord, I lift them up to you and ask you to give them a real spirit of perseverance and tenacity. And to Lord, to speak to their heart and encourage them to keep on, keeping on. For we are not alone, but you are with us. And you have sent the Holy Spirit to guide us and to lead us and to empower us. And you told us that in the world we're going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer. You have overcome the world. Lord, we want to,

we want to walk. We want to walk in your victory. And you have told us that we can do all things through you because you strengthen us. And I pray for my brother, pray for my sister, that they will experience your strength right now in whatever they're going through. Give them Lord, that tenacity. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, I hope you have a great week. I'm going to be praying for you. Pray for me. And I'm specifically going to be praying that God will give you a tenacious spirit. God bless you.