I pray, fast and confess my sins, and my life doesn’t change one bit. No matter how many programs or funerals I attend, my life remains the same. I’m now thinking of calling it quits.

- AFTB

Posted on Sep 28, 2013

I may be wrong in my assessment, but it seems that you are trying very, very hard to earn God’s favor. You pray, fast, confess, attend different services, but nothing changes. Now you are thinking about quitting. My advice to you is to go ahead and quit. Stop trying to earn the Lord’s grace. Stop trying to work your way into salvation. You can’t do it!

I want to share with you the story of a sickly woman who had tried everything to find a cure to her illness. She only found that cure when she came to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. Let’s read Mark 5:25-34, “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

It sounds like this woman’s physical problems parallel your spiritual problems. The answer to both problems is found in Christ. This woman had suffered for 12 years as she tried to find the answer to her ailment. She had gone to many doctors; she had spent all her money. After all her efforts, she was even worse off than before. This woman’s condition had left her with no hope. There were no more doctors and no more money to pay for doctors. There was nothing left for her to do. We might say that she gave up. What else could she do? She had exhausted all her chances to be healed. Then, she acted in faith and went to the Lord. He recognized that she had faith in Him, and said to her in verse 34, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” All of her efforts did her no good; it was through believing on the Lord Jesus Christ that she was cured.

Let’s read Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Our works cannot save us. It is only faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross that saves us. Let’s look at another portion that shows us that our works are useless. Titus 3:5-7 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Isn’t that simple? Any works that we do to please the Lord and earn our salvation are all in vain. We learn in Isaiah 64:6 that, “…we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…”

I can tell from your words that you are tired of struggling. Good. It is people just like you that the Lord refers to in Matthew 11:28-30 where He says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I know from my own experience that trying to work for your salvation can be so tiresome. The Lord invites you to come to Him and find rest from your struggles. How do you come to the Lord? You simply believe on Him for salvation. We read in John 3:36 that, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” So, I encourage you again to just give up. You can never attain salvation for yourself. Simply trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior and you will have the peace you are searching for; you will be saved and have everlasting life.