Removing The Quit Option
“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.” Hebrews 10:35
There will always be the temptation to give up in life. You can quit your marriage, your dream, your relationship with God, and give into sin. You can just say, "I’m tired of the battle, and I’m giving in." But God wants you to reach the place where you have chosen to remove the quit option from your life.
There’s a book out called The Lone Survivor. It’s a book by a Navy SEAL named Marcus Luttrell. In this book, the first few chapters detail the unique training involved in becoming a Navy SEAL. Marcus tells about how they’re one of the most elite fighting forces in the world today. He said the SEALs wake their soldiers up early in the morning, run them through high-pressure, cold-water showers, and then make them run for miles while carrying big logs on their heads. They do push-ups and chin-ups all day long and must be able to swim and run a certain length in a certain amount of time. Just when the soldiers think they are getting a grip on the challenges, the trainers will raise the bar, and this will continue for two solid months! The SEAL program is designed to weed out those who are not strong to figure out who is the best of the best.
Out of 150, two-thirds don’t make it past the two months but if they do, they come to the real test. It’s what’s known as “Hell Week.” This last test starts late on a Saturday afternoon, and for the next seven days, the soldiers will run for miles. They are barely allowed to eat hardly anything for four days. They are severely sleep deprived and are made to stand in 60 degree water until they are at their breaking point. The instructors know precisely when a body is about to shut down. They’ve learned through experience to recognize when somebody has reached the physical point of hyperthermia and physical breakdown, and so they watch intently. One of the instructors that the author talks about in his book made this comment, “What we’re after is your mind.” Your body can put up with a lot if your mind has been trained.
Consequently, there is a little bell, and if at any time during Hell Week, things get so bad that a soldier can’t stand it, all they have to do is break rank and walk over. They don’t have to say anything to their instructor or anybody else. In ringing the bell, they are exercising their quit option. In doing so, they can take their helmet off and go into the barracks and take a warm, relaxing shower. Then they can enjoy a delicious, hot meal, and a bus will take them back to wherever they came from, no questions asked. But when they exercise their quit option they lose their dream of becoming a Navy SEAL.
Luttrell said, “I recognized that it was a mental thing that I was dealing with. I made a decision that I would rather die than give up and quit.” We must understand that we’re in a battle for our lives, families, and souls. The enemy is going to throw everything he can at you to discourage you and make you want to give up. But you have to understand that the battle is not about the trouble in your family, the financial problem, the sickness, or the issues in your marriage. The real battle and what the devil is really after is to break down your mind. He wants you to give up and say, “I can’t take it anymore. I’m not going to live this life anymore. I don’t feel like taking a stand for Christ anymore. I’m going back. I’m going to use my quit option. I’m gonna ring the bell. I’m going back to drugs. I’m going back to sin. I’m going back to the way that I used to be. I just don’t want to fight anymore.”
You win the battle when you make up your mind to never, ever quit!
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