All 3 of our children take piano lessons and the music in our home is often lovely! It’s a blessing to hear a wonderful combination of sacred, classical, and popular music filling the air. They all work hard, and while the practicing definitely takes some time and effort, the return on the investment comes in the form of beautiful music and the makings of a lifelong talent. There are the occasions when all three of them are learning new music at the same time. The music is not so lovely at that time, as they plunk their way through new tunes. It sounds a lot less melodic, and I’m tempted to wonder what we were thinking by signing them up for lessons. But we keep going.
The temptation to quit at something is always lingering just around the corner, for any of us. Maybe we get frustrated in our jobs and think that a new work environment would be easier. Maybe we’re frustrated at church and wish we could move on to another church where we can just attend and not have anything to do with ministry or leadership positions.
For many of these things, quitting is the easy way out - a different job might be beneficial for so many reasons. A new church might have something better to offer. But sometimes we have to go through the struggles to get to the beauty on the other side.
I often wonder how many times Jesus wanted to quit during his time here. He even went to the garden to ask if there was any other way for God to provide salvation for us. We read in Matthew 26:39 -
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Ultimately Jesus pressed on - He was willing to keep going in order to provide a way for us to get to heaven. The best - our salvation - was just beyond His hardest work, death on a cross.
Sometimes the best of what we’re able to do is just beyond our desire to quit. Like the piano practicing - when the kids get a new song, it doesn’t sound pretty. It takes work to learn the music, practice and eventually perfect the song. As our kids put in their time to practice every day, they work through their own desire to give up. They learn the hard work of sticking with something and seeing the beautiful accomplishment on the other end of the hard work.
It’s the same for us - sometimes we have to push through the difficulty, work through the struggle, and persevere before we see the reward for our effort. When things get hard, don’t quit - keep going!
Sharing this post at -
Desire to Inspire
