Bible Verse
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. (NLT)
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・Verse Context
・Key Words
・References from Other Verses of the Bible
・Main Message
・How to Apply This Verse in Your Life
・How to Further Study the Verse
We live in a world that tells us to quit when things get hard. If the job is too stressful, leave. If the relationship takes work, walk away. If the dream costs too much, give up. But what if God's logic works completely backward from what we've been taught? What if the very things that make us want to throw in the towel are actually the reasons to hold on tighter?
Today, we're going to explore a prayer that asks God to rewire how we think about hardship, helping us see our struggles not as signs to retreat but as invitations to press forward with Him.
Short Devotional
Paul writes something that sounds almost crazy in today’s verse. He says "therefore we do not lose heart" right after listing everything going wrong—persecution, pressure, confusion, and physical decline. Most of us would say "therefore I'm done" or "therefore I need a break." But Paul uses the word "therefore" to connect his suffering directly to his perseverance. The hardship isn't happening despite God's work; it's happening as part of God's work. He's being renewed on the inside precisely because—not in spite of—what's falling apart on the outside.
This flips everything we believe about how God shows up. We've been trained to look for ease as evidence of blessing and struggle as evidence of absence. But what if God's presence is most active in the pressure? What if the renewal happens in the breaking down, not after it? When we change what we're looking for, we start seeing God in places we've been calling empty. The question isn't whether God is working—it's whether we're willing to recognize His work in forms we didn't expect.
Let's Pray
Heavenly Father,
I come to You today feeling the weight of everything that makes me want to quit. I'm tired, Lord. Some days I look at what's breaking down in my life—my body, my circumstances, my plans—and I wonder if You see me at all.
I've been waiting for relief as proof that You're working, but maybe I've been looking in the wrong direction.
Help me understand what Paul meant when he said "therefore we do not lose heart." Teach me Your backward logic that turns my reasons to quit into reasons to keep going.
I confess that I've measured Your presence by comfort and Your absence by hardship. But You're asking me to see something different—that You're most at work when everything feels like it's falling apart.
Father, renew me from the inside out, even while things on the outside seem to be wasting away. Let my struggles become the soil where deeper faith grows.
When I want to give up, remind me that this pressure isn't proof You've left—it's proof You're refining something in me that can only be shaped through resistance.
I'm grateful that You don't waste my pain. You're using what's hard to build what's eternal. Give me eyes to see the invisible work You're doing beneath the surface.
Strengthen me to press on, not because circumstances improve, but because You're present in them. I trust that what's being renewed in my spirit outlasts anything that's breaking down in my body.
In Jesus' name, who persevered through the cross to reach resurrection, Amen.
Journaling Prompts
Write about a time when you quit something because it got hard. Looking back, do you see any evidence that God might have been working through that difficulty in ways you couldn't see then?
What would your life look like if you stopped waiting for circumstances to improve before you believe God is present and active?
What situation in your life right now makes you want to quit, and what would change if you saw that situation as the place where God is most actively renewing you?
The next time you're ready to quit, pause and ask yourself what you're using as evidence that God is working. He might be most present in the place that feels most broken. May you find strength to press on, not because the road gets easier, but because you're learning to see God in the hardship itself.
Until next time,
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May He make His face shine upon you;
And be gracious to you and give you peace.
God Bless!
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