Stay the Course: Embracing Determination and Faith
- By candidasullivan
- January 18, 2025
- No Comments
Don’t let off the gas.
Sometimes, I start strong. I’m excited by the goal or dream and the anticipation of something new. The goal drives me for a while until I no longer have the same level of determination. And slowly, I let up. I start slipping until the dream is nothing more than forgotten scribbles in my notebook.
Sadly, this has happened to me more than I care to admit. I dream, pray, plan, and then quit at the first sign of struggle. I listen as the enemy tells me I need to rest. After all, he pleads, one minor slip-up won’t make a difference. But it does.
Oh, how it matters. It unknowingly teaches us to quit when life gets hard; before we know it, quitting becomes our default reaction. Honestly, we should all remove the word “try” from our minds right now. The truth is we do it, or we don’t. If we decide to “try, ” we unconsciously say that we will do it until it becomes uncomfortable. Then, we will feel better about not doing it if we declare that we tried.
Or at least this is my experience. I’ve quit on myself so many times. Usually, it’s a silent quit. I don’t make a big deal about it, but I just stop doing the thing I vowed to do. And I don’t even admit it to myself. It’s like we skip over the part of my life where I broke the promises I made to myself and gave up on my dreams.
Weeks later, I wondered why I felt sad. Why didn’t I have any motivation or inspiration? And it’s like my brain never connected the dots and took me back to the place where I gave up on myself.
Admitting these truths to you and myself is hard. I want to believe that I am someone who never gives up, but that isn’t true. While sometimes I don’t see the enemy’s attacks or realize he has led me away, the truth remains. I still let myself down, whether I meant to or not.
The only way I know to prevent this is to watch and pray. We are not as easily distracted or discouraged when we stay focused on the Lord and what He wants us to do. And when we pray daily for the ability to do what God wants us to do, He gives us the strength, courage, faith, determination, and wisdom to do it.
Sweet friends, we need God to become the best version of ourselves. We need daily communication with Him. God knows what He has called us to do and what the enemy plans to do. When we feel ourselves slowing down or slipping up, we need to run to God, not away from Him.

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