Walk Through or Walk Out

I just read a statement written by Charles Swindoll causing me to reflect. Here is the statement. "The roots grow deep when the wind blows. Working through is always - always - more painful than walking out. "

In your situation what are doing? Are you walking through your trials with persevering faith, pressing ahead, and overcoming? Or are you contemplating walking out? Is your marriage not as strong as it used to be. Have you begun entertaining thoughts of romance with a friend or co-worker. Have you made up your mind to walk out rather than to press through.

Maybe you are enrolled in college and the pressures of class assignments, papers, and tests are getting the best of you. Maybe even as you read this you are mulling over the thought of just dropping out and going back home. Maybe you feel stuck in a dead end job and you are just about ready to walk out offering your resignation seeking gainful employment in greener pastures. Maybe you are an athlete being passed over and you do not feel you are being given your fair shot. You are about to turn in your equipment and walk out.

Working through is painful. It is much harder than walking out. It takes resolve to work through, to stay the course, and to finish. Anyone can walk out.

When I was a boy playing on a flag football team I got mad at our coach one day. I stormed off the practice field determined not to play another down. Only one problem. Football was a passion for me. I was miserable until I went back to my coach days later and apologized for my behavior. Working through proved more painful than walking out. Working through proved the right choice.

We have a rule in our house. If you commit to some task, sport, or extra curricular activity you have to finish. You cannot quit. Not every activity or sport has been pleasant. Some times the boys had to endure long and difficult seasons. Sometimes they did not even get play much. They found working through to be more painful than walking out. Yet they learned valuable life lessons in the process.

I have walked out a few times in my life and have regretted those decisions. If I could turn back time I would undo walking out and would have worked harder at walking through. I cannot go back and undo the past. I can only walk through today.

It has been during the walking through seasons of my life where the roots in my relationship with God have grown deeper against the stiff winds of adversity. I am not saying thousands of times I did not want to quit college, work, and ministry. Many a Monday morning over the years I have thought about leaving the ministry but always God has drawn me back. Because I have walked through ministry with Him for the past twenty-nine years I have learned and come into relationships with some wonderful people.

I don't know your situation today. You may be right on the verge of walking out of something you would be better served to walk through. I pray you make the right decision.