Do you want to give up?  Everywhere you turn you see people giving up;  giving up on their marriage, giving up on their family, and even giving up on God.  Some just give up on life all together.

Today in history I taught the children about the London Blitz during World War II.  This was an incredibly dark and desperate time for Britain.  Waves of German planes launched day and night raids from September 1940 to May 1941.  Thousands were killed and the spirit of millions was crushed.  But during that time it was the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill that inspired Britain and became one of the greatest Englishman of our time.  It was his determination to never give up and his resolute speeches that would motivate the world.  In one speech Churchill thundered, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”  Again speaking to the House of Commons he said, “You ask, what is our aim?  I can answer in one word:  It is Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival!”

 Couldn’t we all learn a lesson from this man?  Maybe you are in a difficult marriage and you’re tired of the heartache and you want to give up.  Maybe you are a student and the pressures of academics make you want to quit.  Maybe you are a homeschooling mother and the responsibility is overwhelming.  Maybe you’ve reached out time and time again to a friend to no avail and you want to stop trying.  Maybe you’ve prayed and prayed and prayed and all you get is silence.  Maybe your body aches with cancer and the thought of one more day is unbearable.   Maybe you’ve been fighting a spiritual battle and you can’t see victory.  Should we just quit?  I don’t think so for the stakes are too high.  Listen to what Paul tells the Corinthians.  “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.  (2Co 4:15-18) 

Dear friend, in the midst of the battle we must keep our eyes on the eternal.  There is more to life than the immediate.  And in the words of Winston Churchill we must remember to “never, never, never give up!”