Winston Churchill was once invited to speak at the boys’ school he’d attended as a child. Expecting a long speech, the headmaster told the students to take detailed notes. But Churchill spoke only twelve words. “Young gentlemen, never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never, never.”
“Never give up” is a negative command that produces a positive life. In James 5:11, the apostle wrote, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”
Now, Job was a man who did everything right. In fact, God said there was nobody as righteous on the earth as Job. And yet everything wrong happened to him. Very few people in history have suffered as much as Job.
But Job didn’t curse God, and he didn’t give up on God. He withstood Satan’s attacks: the loss of his children, his wealth, his health, and the sense of God’s presence. Even his wife told him to give up. His friends gave him warped advice. And though Job was very vocal about his pain, he endured it—he never gave up.
Satan predicted that Job would abandon God. He didn’t. In fact, I think the pinnacle of the book is in chapter 13, when Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (v. 15). Now that’s endurance.
If Job was the most righteous person on the Earth, we can categorically say, “Righteous people suffer.” None of this nonsense of “If you have enough faith, you’ll never suffer or get diseases.” Righteous people suffer because everyone suffers.
Righteous people suffer, but resilient people endure. To endure and persevere means to remain under the tension, to remain under the load. It is staying power. It is fortitude. The best definition I’ve found is holy toughness. Some of us need to toughen up.
When you are repeatedly tested and you suffer and you make it through, you get tougher, and you get better. And with each trial that you endure, you continue to get tougher. As it says in Romans 5:3, “Tribulation produces perseverance.”
Somebody once said, “It’s always too soon to quit.” Some of you may think, “I’m done. I’ve waited. I’ve prayed. It’s not happening. I’m about ready to quit.” It’s always too soon to quit. You may be this close to a breakthrough. Don’t give up.
Notice in James 5:11: “The end intended by the Lord.” God allowed Job’s suffering because He had a purpose for it—to reveal that “The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”
Job’s endurance was eventually rewarded, his faith strengthened and proved genuine. Satan was proved a liar. And his story ends with: “The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than the beginning” (Job 42:12). That’s “the end intended by the Lord.”
In the 1800s, James “Gentleman Jim” Corbett was the heavyweight boxing champion for five straight years. A reporter asked him, “What’s your secret?” He answered, “Fight one more round.” He said the man who fights one more round is never beaten because he just keeps fighting.
There’s an end intended by the Lord for the trial you’re going through. God is in your corner. Stand up. Fight one more round. The Bible says the righteous may fall seven times, but he will always rise again (see Proverbs 24:16).
Never give up.
