I can’t. It is too hard. I am inadequate. I quit.

Yes, these words were said out loud – by me.

But… the only person in the room…was me.

I looked around to see if God was listening, and it occurred to me that I may have been acting like Deputy Barney Fife, who wrote numerous letters of resignation. Sheriff Taylor would store them in a folder and put them away in the filing cabinet.

Sometimes, I just feel inadequate… I mean in-ad-I-quit.

We all have a purpose in life that God has given us. But, sometimes, we may feel that it is too hard, we may feel inadequate, and we may want to quit.

Jeremiah’s excuses: I am a child. I cannot speak. These words in Jeremiah 1:6, when he was around 18 years old, indicate that he may have felt in-ad-I-quit.

Jeremiah’s mission: To fulfill God’s purpose for his life. He was thought of as deprived and poor. He was put in prison. He was thrown in a well. He was rejected by friends, family, and neighbors.

Jeremiah’s result: He was successful in God’s eyes, because he was faithful and obedient.

Ann’s excuses: I can’t. It is too hard. I am inadequate. I quit.

Hmm… those words sound like a 2018 version of, “I am a child. I cannot speak.”

Ann’s mission: To fulfill God’s purpose for my life. I may be thought of as deprived and poor. I may be put in prison, thrown in a well, and rejected by friends, family, and neighbors. (Well, not exactly those things, but you get my point.)

Ann’s result: I will be successful in God’s eyes, if I am faithful and obedient.

***Feel free to re-read this part, and insert your name everywhere it says, “Ann’s.”

You know that feeling of being on a long road trip in the car with the family, and right in the middle of nowhere, someone HAS to stop right then?

Quite often, the driver ends up yelling (or softly saying) these words, “There is nowhere to stop!”

That is how our road of life is…from the cradle when we were born … to the cross when we were forgiven… to the crown of life we will receive when we reach our final destination.

And there is nowhere to stop!

2 Chronicles 15:7 says: Be strong. Do not give up. Your work will be rewarded.

God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.

You can.

It is not too hard.

You are not inadequate.

No quitting allowed.

Ann is a speaker and teacher. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or https://annfarabee.com