When is enough, enough? Is it when we accumulate a certain number of opponents or critics? Is it when financial problems attain a particular level? Is it when we have faithfully served a prescribed number of years? Or do we have the right to determine when we quit?
If we are the ones determining and designing our leadership careers, then we can choose when they come to a close. But if we are serving out of a sense of calling, then the One who called us has the prerogative to set the agenda for our lives. We may be leaders but we are foremost servants. Servants don’t decide when they will work and when they will not. They don’t complain every time people demonstrate a lack of appreciation. Servants serve and they expect to be treated like a servant. Our problem at times is that we want the nobility of divine servant-hood without the corresponding sacrifice. We invite God to use us but we disdain the feeling of being used!
When we grow discouraged and desire to quit, we are often overreacting to our current problems. In reality, they generally are not as ominous as they first appear. Time will pass and God will achieve His purposes once again. Our question ought not to be, “Should I have to put up with what I am presently enduring?” but, “Has God yet achieved His purposes through my life in this situation?” Surely Jesus might have muttered, “I have had enough” after the Roman soldiers had flogged Him and pounded nails through His flesh. But He did not. He steadfastly remained at His post refusing to quit or feel sorry for Himself, until He could triumphantly exclaim, “It is finished!” We have no right to abandon a divine assignment, regardless of how difficult, until our Lord, at His good pleasure, chooses to dismiss us.