It is often easier to leave.  Problems come and we think that is our cue to go.  Our transient world tends to promote this idea.  “Leave the marriage!  Quit the job!  Forget the friendship!  Find another ministry!  Move on and things will get better.”

The result is a plethora of broken marriages, empty churches, and frustrated lives.  People leave where they are and what they should be doing for many reasons…curiosity, boredom, discouragement.  Any reason will do, and the devil will always provide one.

This year I will celebrate 20 years of being at Temple Baptist Church and Crown College.  I have learned so many things through these seasons of life, but perhaps the greatest is that there are rewards for those who stay.  The privilege of watching God work – in your own heart and the hearts of others.  The joy of realizing that there is One who never changes while so many other things do.  It has been a grand adventure, a journey of faith, and I am glad to still be on it.

Sometimes God says, “Go.”  Abraham understood this principle and obeyed.  Sometimes God says, “Stay.”  Remember this: It may take more faith to stay than to go!

Are you in the middle of a great trial and tempted to quit?  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).  Get your mind stayed on God and you can stay the course.  Your life will follow your thoughts!  The key to staying is to not entertain thoughts of leaving.  Put it out of your mind and look to the Lord.  Quitting is not an option.  You don’t have a plan B when you are in the will of God!

My dad has pastored the same church for almost a quarter of a century.  My pastor has labored in this place for almost 27 years.  These are men that I admire – their tenacity, perseverance, and willingness to press on.  A lot of good men have come and gone.  The longer I live the more I thank God for those who came and stayed.  May God bless them and multiply their kind!