Quitting is not an option

Maybe it’s been a rough week.

You’re rundown; disheartened, worried about the days ahead. Thinking that your dreams are deteriorating, facing another dead end, and feeling hopeless, the voices inside your head might be telling you to “forget it,” “you don’t have a chance” or “give up.”

Maybe you have been left behind and are wondering if anyone can help you.

And in a low moment you say to yourself, “I just don’t care anymore.” And you’re ready to shrink back and yield.

However, before you decide to throw in the towel, let me ask you one question: Are you going to permit a present challenge, a setback, or a rejection stop you from accomplishing your future goals?

Of course you are not, because I won’t let you! You have come too far, worked too hard and sacrificed too much to stop now.

“But I have been through so much heartache and pain,” you may say.

Well, think of each past experience, as wind that propels you up higher to your destined purpose. Remember, you have not exhausted all of your options. There is strength within you. Be determined that you won’t sell yourself short and quit. You have something special about you, with a destiny to fulfill. Thus, do not underestimate your strength, your worth or your great potential. Trust God, He has an amazing future set out before you. And soon you will come through your struggles more faithful, fervent, confident and blessed.

A few years ago, early one morning, a friend of mine was leaving for work. She lived in a condominium complex and every Tuesday, before she left her home for her office, she would take out her trash; throwing it in a large dumpster by the parking lot.

But one Tuesday, my friend left for work earlier than usual. Yet, as she did every week, she brought out a bag of trash to toss into the dumpster. However, this particular morning, before she threw the trash bag in, she heard something. Stopped in her tracks for a moment, she listened to a faint scratching sound within the dumpster.

“I wonder what that noise is?” she questioned herself, as she gingerly looked into the dumpster. Because it was rather dark outside and the dumpster was somewhat filled, my friend couldn’t see to the bottom.

Time seemed to stand still, as she wondered what to do next. Yet, something in her heart told her to

“stay there and wait.”

Then, instantaneously, my friend heard a slight “meow.” Barely audible, she gazed into the dumpster again, and this time she saw a tiny black and white kitten jumping up the side of the dumpster trying to get out. Stunned, my friend watched the kitten’s attempts to leap out, but each time the tiny animal slipped back down to the shadowy bottom. The kitten tried again and again, nonetheless kept falling down.

With her heart beating fast, my friend described how she reached in, scooped up, and rescued the frail black and white kitten from out of the dumpster. Thereafter, she took the animal to a veterinarian and with a little love and care; the kitten received a clean bill of health.

My friend kept that sweet kitten and named him “Miracle,” as he is a reminder that: regardless of your situation, if you do not give up, there is always hope. “God had me exactly where I needed to be, at the exact time I needed to be there,” she exclaimed.

Just as God arranged for my friend to be there for this kitten on that early morning, God is there for you. He hears your cries for help, and hasn’t forgotten you — I like the Scripture that says, “And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.” (2 Corinthians 1:10)

God’s sovereignty reigns over all of your problems. Someday, you will look back on these times and wonder how you had the strength to endure. Then you will remember that your faith in God gave you the strength.

A nurse that I am acquainted with told me that in a hospital emergency, she sometimes writes the patient’s vital signs in pen on her palm. “A piece of paper can be lost; a chart can be misplaced, so that way,” she explains, “in an emergency situation, I don’t forget very important information.”

Likewise, God, too, has “you engraved in the palm of His hand” (Isaiah 49:16). He has a life overflowing with joy in which He wants to lead you, but you must escape from that rut and step to the forefront in faith.

Difficult times are not going to last forever. Your due season of harvest is approaching. And great success can be around the next corner. So place the unseen road ahead in God’s mighty care and trust Him to supply all of the needs of life. And the same Hands that carry your name will reach down, lift you up, and you’ll experience … a miraculous life-altering rescue!

Email Catherine Galasso-Vigorito at cgv@anewyouworldwide.com. To order a copy of her new book, “The Open Window, 8 Weeks to Creating an Extraordinary Life,” visit www.anewyouworldwide.com or bookstores nationwide.

Like me on Facebook! Follow Catherine on Instagram @Catherinegalassovigorito.