You Have Come to Far to Give Up Now
Discover why perseverance through hardship is the foundation of true purpose and lasting success.
YOU HAVE COME TOO FAR TO GIVE UP NOW
The road may be harder than you expected, but difficult does not mean impossible—and opposition does not mean you are going in the wrong direction.
By Tammy Torres | Author, Bible Instructor & Master of Theology
There are moments in life when giving up feels easier than continuing. You have prayed, worked, sacrificed; you have tried again and again, and yet somehow, the breakthrough you expected still has not come. The door has not opened. The answer has not arrived. The dream is taking longer than you imagined. Somewhere between where you started and where you hoped you would be by now, you became tired. Not necessarily tired enough to stop believing—but tired enough to wonder whether continuing is worth it.
IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH IT!!
Sometimes the greatest challenge is not starting the journey. It is continuing when the excitement of beginning has disappeared and the results have not yet caught up with your effort.
That is one of the reasons the life of the Apostle Paul has impacted me so deeply and has become the foundation of my book, God’s Redeeming Grace for Paul the Apostle, and its companion workbook. When we talk about Paul, we often focus on the great apostle, missionary, and writer. But we cannot fully appreciate the man Paul became without understanding what he endured along the way.
Paul knew what it meant to keep going when quitting would have been understandable.
In 2 Corinthians 11:23–27, Paul gives us a glimpse of what his journey cost him. He endured imprisonments, beatings, danger, sleepless nights, hunger, and hardship. He was beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, and repeatedly placed in dangerous situations. He experienced opposition from enemies and disappointment from people. And still, Paul kept going.
Imagine being knocked down physically, emotionally, and spiritually—and getting back up.
Imagine surviving one hardship only to encounter another. Imagine doing what you believe God called you to do and discovering that obedience did not make the road easy. Paul's life destroys the idea that difficulty automatically means you are headed in the wrong direction. Sometimes you can be exactly where you are supposed to be and still encounter resistance.
HARD DOES NOT MEAN WRONG
We often believe that if something is meant for us, everything should fall into place perfectly. We expect open doors, quick results, and constant confirmation. Some of the greatest things we will ever accomplish require us to push through discouragement, rejection, delays, and moments when we question ourselves.
Paul certainly did. His journey included prisons, storms, opposition, misunderstanding, and unexpected changes, yet none of those things had the authority to cancel his purpose. Difficulty did not mean Paul was defeated, and an obstacle in your life does not automatically mean it is time to quit.
Sometimes the struggle is developing something inside of you that success alone never could—perseverance, discipline, patience, character, faith, strength, and wisdom. There are lessons you learn while climbing the mountain that you could never learn standing on top of it. Do not become so focused on reaching the destination that you fail to recognize what the journey is developing inside of you.
There is a difference between reaching the end and simply becoming weary along the way. Being exhausted doesn't mean you have lost your purpose, and feeling discouraged doesn't mean you are defeated. Sometimes strength looks like continuing, but sometimes strength looks like stopping long enough to rest, regroup, and regain your focus. You may need to adjust the plan, seek wisdom, or take a different path than the one you originally imagined. That is not failure—that is growth. The road to your destination may change, but that does not mean you have to give up on where you are going.
Acts 27 gives us a powerful picture of this truth. Paul was traveling toward Rome when a violent storm destroyed the ship carrying him. Paul had a destination, but the very thing he thought would carry him there fell apart. Many of us understand that feeling. You still have the dream, but the plan fell apart. You still have the vision, but the opportunity disappeared. You still know where you want to go, but the path you expected to take is no longer available. Paul's ship was destroyed, but Paul was not. He survived the wreck and continued toward Rome. Never confuse the loss of the ship with the loss of your destination.
Delay can also make us question whether we should continue. But growth takes time. Building takes time. Learning takes time. We see the successful business but not the years of sacrifice. We see the degree but not the late-night studying. We see the book but not the hours spent writing it. We see the successful woman but rarely see the moments when she almost gave up. Never compare someone else's finished product to your work in progress.
You do not have to understand the entire journey to take the next step. Send the email. Make the call. Submit the application. Write another page. Take the class. Try another strategy. Knock on another door. Pray another prayer. Get up one more time. Great accomplishments are often built through small decisions repeated faithfully when nobody is watching. Never underestimate the power of simply refusing to stop.
Near the end of Paul's life, he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). What makes those words so powerful is everything Paul endured before he could say them. He did not say the race was easy or that everything happened according to his plan. He said, “I finished.” The rejection did not stop him. The disappointment did not stop him. The prison did not stop him. The storm did not stop him. He kept going.
This is one of the messages I want readers to discover through God’s Redeeming Grace for Paul the Apostle and its companion workbook. Grace gave Paul a new beginning, but perseverance kept him moving when the road became difficult.
Sometimes the moment you feel like giving up is not a sign that your journey is over—it may simply be a sign that you have grown weary. Before you surrender something you once believed in because the road became difficult, give yourself permission to rest, refocus, and remember why you started. A difficult season does not always mean it is time to stop. Sometimes it simply means you need renewed strength to keep going.
A setback does not always mean the journey is over. Sometimes what looks like an ending is simply forcing you to discover another way forward. Paul lost the ship, but he never lost sight of where he was going. Life may interrupt your plans, change your timeline, and challenge everything you expected—but it cannot take away your determination unless you surrender it. When one way closes, have the courage to find another. Keep believing, keep moving, and refuse to let one difficult chapter decide how your story ends.
One day, may you look back over every storm, setback, rejection, delay, and moment when you almost walked away and be able to say what Paul said: I fought. I kept the faith. And I finished.
The storm did not stop me. The rejection did not stop me. The delay did not stop me.
I wanted to quit—but I didn't.
Tammy Torres
Author of God’s Redeeming Grace for Paul the Apostle and its companion workbook.
