Monday, September 8, 2014

The Quit



This picture was taken on July 31, 2014, (actually August 1), 1:20 am - 8,178 miles from Key West, FL. We had ridden 1124 miles that day on 3.5 hours of sleep. Exhausted, yet so excited! We did it, Gene Adee and I had accomplished the finish line in Homer, AK.

However, there was little brushes with quit, but setting in Prince George, BC, the quits had really come over me. When I looked at the map given out to all of the riders, there was 2069 more miles to go, across the Yukon (oh the stories I had heard). It was getting real old gearing up with warm clothes, rain gear, sleeping on the ground, eating out of gasoline stations and most of all, going slow.

I realized there is still a seed of quit inside all of humanity. From all Carolyn and I have gone through, it appeared there was no quit in us anymore. Decades of sticking to it, decades of going through it, decades of betrayal and not getting bitter, decades of disappointments and yet never losing hope. It would appear the quits were long gone.

Here the quit came, on a 'bucket list' trip, the quits show up. A trip that many would love to attempt, love to have the opportunity to ride, the beauty seen and the beauty that awaited us. Oh, the stories of the wilderness that lie before us, and yes, it was that and more.

Jesus had the quits in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Son of God, a part of Trinity, and He had the quits. Oh, it was obviously a greater trial, an absolutely greater purpose but at the foundation, a quit was still there.

Yes, the Father sent an angel to encourage Him. He found the inner strength to carry on. Where would we be if He had quit? Where would the world be?

Setting at the Harley Davidson dealership in Prince George, the inner strength came when I said, 'I am going to finish this course'. The words were never heard by anyone but the inner man started to rise up. Gene Adee arrived, we ate a free hamburger and mounted our iron horses and rode toward the vast wilderness that lie before us, at speed limit.


You say, that is a silly comparison. Well, you are right. However, there are two things that most seem to look past.

One, there was no angel that visited me but the Holy Spirit lives within. We all can reach inward, in the face of a vicious trial, through the deepest and loneliest valley, in the violent storms and find the strength we need in His power (assuming you have received from the Lord this blessing).

Secondly, it is a firm conviction of mine that when you start quitting, it becomes easier to quit the next time. Oh how many people have we witnessed on our journey that have opened the door to quit and cannot get the door shut. What would the fruit of that simple 'quit' produce in this season of my life?

Whatever you are going through today - DON'T QUIT! Look for the Holy Spirit's grace to continue on.

Gary Burd aka Shepherd

3 comments:

  1. You've encouraged me and my family for many years and the Holy Spirit does live within us. Thank you for sharing thestruggle of the "QUITS" with us. GranFe'Dean, Rena, Wiggles, Boo

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  2. I ran across this blog on Facebook today, on a day when I have been, yet again, feeling like I just want to give up and just plain tired of this life, wanting to go home to my Heavenly Father. Thank you for this post.

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  3. thanks so much for posting - I was not sure if this was really helping or not. I could send emails to close brothers and sisters but to blog is new to me. It is so humbling that you found something in the article that gave you the courage to face another day. I think many are ready to 'go home' but we must not take the easy way out. We must fight and fight with all our might! There is a world to bring to the Kingdom of God! Go in His grace!!!!!

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