The life of faith has been made to be a bit confusing at times. The Church, Christians, and the general public sometime assign strange parameters and guidelines about what having "faith" looks like.
I think that the idea of "never quitting" is one of those strange guidelines and benchmarks. We begin something in faith, and believe that in order to stay faithful to God, we must never quit that endeavor.
Another unbiblical sentiment is that of us wanting to know that we were right about whatever venture of faith we took. We set out to do something in faith, and if we quit, we feel like we have failed, and that others will believe that we failed, and that we "didn't hear God" to begin with.
Certainly there are times when quitting is not the best option. We can indeed initiate steps of faith towards a project, and then meet with difficulties, and want to quit. There is opposition, loneliness, or things don't turn out the way we had hoped. Sometimes we ought not quit, but push forward in faith regarding what we believe God wants us to do.
However, I do believe that at other times, we ought to quit in faith. We attempt something in faith, that effort brings mixed results, but after a time, through prayer and the inner witness of the Spirit, we feel released from that effort.
We start in faith, and we quit in faith. I don't believe that to be a sign of weakness or immaturity. To the contrary, I believe that "quitting in faith" is sometimes a great sign of maturity.
Consider the story of Abraham, who was called upon by God to offer his son, found in Genesis 22:1-13.
In faith, Abraham took his son to Mt. Moriah to offer him there. He went through the emotional agony of being prepared to do what God asked him to do. He put forth physical efforts to make preparations, gather some of his servants, and then travel three days to the chosen destination. He was following through on what God had commanded him to do.
And then, at the last minute God changed Abraham's direction. Fortunately, Abraham obeyed. I could understand the relief that he must have felt, but what if Abraham thought it was only his emotions speaking to him? What if he thought that he would look foolish for having done so much to obey God, only to "quit" at the last moment? There must have been other emotions that clashed with his relief of not having to offer his son.
What if Abraham thought "I must continue in faith"? At that point, his continuance would have been disobedience, and not faith. It was right for him to "quit in faith".
We often continue when we should quit. Church leaders let certain ministries continue too long, because of the past efforts that have been put into those ministries, and the feelings that would be hurt if those ministries were discontinued.
A step of faith is blessed for a while, but then its effectiveness wanes. We prop it up, and eventually put it on life support, not realizing that God wants to do a new thing.
We become comfortable in our current condition. God blessed it in the past, and there is nothing inherently wrong with what we are doing, except that it is time to take new steps of faith.
We worry about what we will look like to others. We started something in faith, rallied others, and pronounced that we believed that "God was leading us" (indeed He may have been). Friends and family cheer us on, and invest in what we are doing. But after a season, we realize that it is time to quit. God used the season, we WERE faithful, and now it's time for something new. It's time to quit in faith.
We are not called to be successful. We are called to be obedient. We are called to live lives of faithfulness.
I have begun many ministry efforts, and walked away from many as well. I have grown increasingly comfortable with the idea of "quitting in faith", and that doing so doesn't make me a failure, but it prepares me for my next step of faith.
