Don’t Give Up

Read Luke 18 1-8

"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."  2 Chronicles 15:7

I was never good at anything as a kid. I was always the smallest kid in school, the one who everybody found their place for laughs. I was an easy target because I had quite the temper. It’s all I had because it wasn’t like I could beat them up so I would just get mad. This would just egg them on and the teasing would continue. Most of my childhood consisted of this. I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence. I tried out for sports but was always the kid who kept the bench warm. I remember dreaming up scenarios about shooting the game-winning shot. Yeah, that never happened. I was always so timid and kind of scared of everything. I just wanted to be good at something. I just wanted to belong.

I turned to drugs when I got older. I think that there were many different reasons for it. Some were to hide the pain, some of it was to be cool, and well, when I was intoxicated I just didn’t care. For the first 20 years of my life I didn’t really believe that my life mattered. I really didn’t even know why I was here…at least not until I had an intense encounter with Christ.

Everybody’s story is different, that is the beauty of life. We all go through different storms at different times. We all mess up, but the good news is we have the choice of standing back up and trying again. The God I follow is a God full of mercy and healing. He is relentless and in love with us, even though it doesn’t make sense. Failing, to me, only comes when we choose to not try again.

I have seen and done so many things that I had never dreamed possible. But I had to fall a lot first. Seasons come and go, so hang in there, and please, whatever you do, don’t give up.

-Shawn McDonald

Visit:  http://www.ShawnMcDonaldMusic.com

Shawn McDonald - Don't Give Up (Acoustic)