Giving up should not be an option?

It's when you feel like giving up, when there is no where else to turn, Jesus says, I will carry you the rest of the way!! Acts 16:25-34
The prison guard in the above verses was hopeless, he felt the only option he had was to kill himself. Many people today, especially young folks, are turning to that kind of thinking. They have no hope, no way out of the situation they have gotten themselves into.

Well, as the prison Guard found out, there was hope. He heard the voice of Paul crying out to him, "do yourself no harm." Why did he hear Paul's voice over the voice of disparity? Because he had heard Paul and Silas singing praises to God, right after they had been beaten and locked up. They had been thrown in prison, for no other reason, except they were preaching Jesus.

The guard knowing this, heard them singing instead of complaining. Heard them giving God thanks, instead of bemoaning their situation! Also in his time of great need, he heard Paul's voice yell out to him! What that prison guard heard that evening, was Jesus. In his greatest hour of need, he heard the voice of God. When he came to Paul, the first thing he said was, what must I do to be saved?

How about us? What kind of testimony do we have in a hopeless world? If a person where to cry out, would they hear us say, do yourself no harm? Would they then come to us and ask what must I do to be saved? Do we live that kind of example before the world? Or do they not see much difference in us, do they hear us complaining about life as much as they?

In this world they need to hear more Paul's and more Silas's. They need to know there is someone they can turn too in time of crisis and need! Someone who truly cares and loves them, who will show them the way to a life of hope and value. That someone is Jesus Christ. Oh, how we need to think of others needs more than are own. Oh, how they need to see Jesus living in and through us!

They need to hear the voice of Jesus coming from us, especially in times of crisis. In days where hope is becoming a by-word. Where faith is something acted out and not lived out! They need to see and hear Jesus in us, if not us then who? Jesus said, "If we do not give praises to God, even the rocks would cry out." (Luke 19:40) 

Do we as Christians want to be out praised by rocks, or do we stand on the Rock and out praise hopelessness? A person giving up, should never be the only option. Pray they can hear your voice in time of need, and share the hope that is in you, Jesus!