Have you ever felt like quitting?
Maybe you’ve been trying to do the right thing for a long time and it just feels like nothing is happening. Your prayers seem unanswered. Your efforts don’t seem to make a difference. You’re tired. Frustrated. And tempted to give up.
I want to encourage you today with a simple thought:
You may be closer to your breakthrough than you think.
🎧 Watch the episode here:
367. Don’t Quit—Your Breakthrough May Be Closer Than You Think
The Story of the Gold Mine
There’s a story from a classic book I love called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
In the story, a man named Darby goes to Colorado hoping to strike it rich in a gold mine. He buys expensive mining equipment, gathers his resources, and begins digging.
At first, he finds gold.
He’s excited. He tells his friends. It looks like he’s about to strike it rich.
Then suddenly… the gold disappears.
The vein runs dry.
He keeps digging.
And digging.
And digging.
But nothing shows up.
Eventually, discouraged and financially exhausted, he quits. He sells all of his equipment to a junk dealer for pennies on the dollar and walks away.
But the story doesn’t end there.
The new owner of the equipment does something Darby didn’t do. He hires a mining engineer—a geologist who understands rock formations and how gold veins move through the earth.
After studying the mine, the engineer tells him something remarkable:
“You were only about three feet from gold.”
Three feet.
They dig a little deeper—and sure enough, they strike one of the richest gold veins in the region.
The Spiritual Lesson
That story has always stuck with me because it illustrates a powerful truth about the Christian life.
Sometimes the breakthrough is just a little deeper than where we’re tempted to quit.
The apostle Paul wrote this in Galatians 6:9:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Paul is basically saying:
Don’t stop digging.
Keep doing what’s right.
Keep trusting God.
Keep sowing seeds of faith.
Because the harvest is coming.
The Christian Life Requires Endurance
It’s easy to start strong.
Many people do.
But the real challenge is staying faithful when things get hard.
Sometimes the gold doesn’t appear on the first swing of the pickaxe.
Sometimes it comes after days… months… or even years of doing the right thing when nobody notices.
When prayers feel unanswered.
When progress feels painfully slow.
But here’s what we need to remember:
God sees every act of faithfulness.
Every prayer.
Every sacrifice.
Every seed of kindness you plant.
And the Bible promises that in God’s timing, the harvest will come.
But there’s one condition.
If you do not give up.
A Time When I Almost Quit
When I was a young Christian—probably about a year and a half into my faith—I went through one of the toughest seasons of my life.
I seriously considered quitting.
Walking away from God.
Leaving the church.
Going back to my old life.
The Christian life just felt overwhelming.
Too much sacrifice.
Too much time.
Too much energy.
I was frustrated and exhausted.
But somehow I hung on.
Honestly, I think I held on by my fingernails.
I started digging deeper into the Bible. I spent time praying. I fasted. A lot. At one point I fasted for eighteen days because I was so desperate to reconnect with God.
It wasn’t a fun season.
In fact, it was miserable at times.
But that season led to the greatest spiritual breakthrough I had experienced up to that point in my life.
Digging into a Deeper Vein
What I realized later was that God was leading me into something deeper.
When I first became a Christian, I had this initial burst of excitement. I was fired up to be forgiven and out of my old life.
But God wanted to take me deeper.
He wanted to develop deeper motivation, deeper faith, deeper love.
The gold I had already discovered wasn’t enough for where God wanted to take me.
And that six-month season of struggle became the moment where I broke into a new vein of spiritual gold.
My understanding of God’s grace deepened. My motivation changed. My energy for ministry exploded.
Looking back, I’m so thankful I didn’t quit.
🎧 Watch the episode here:
367. Don’t Quit—Your Breakthrough May Be Closer Than You Think
Where Are You Tempted to Quit?
Let me ask you something today.
Where are you tempted to give up?
Maybe you’ve been praying for someone for years and you haven’t seen any change.
Maybe it’s your kids.
Maybe you’re trying to grow a ministry that feels like it’s going nowhere.
Maybe it’s your business and you’re struggling to gain traction.
Maybe it’s your marriage and you feel like nothing is improving.
Or maybe you’re a younger Christian and that initial excitement has faded.
Whatever the situation is, you may feel like you’ve reached the end of the line.
But I want to encourage you with this thought:
You may be three feet from gold.
Don’t Stop Digging
God’s timing is perfect.
And when the harvest finally comes, you’ll look back and realize something powerful:
Every prayer mattered.
Every tear mattered.
Every swing of the pickaxe mattered.
Because God was working the entire time.
So wherever you are today…
Don’t quit.
Keep trusting God.
Keep digging.
Keep believing.
Because your breakthrough might be closer than you think.
Stay Connected
If this message encouraged you, I’d love for you to stay connected.
• Share this episode with a friend
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• Check out my book The 10X Christian
My goal is simple:
To inspire you to live a no-regrets life, make this life count, and multiply disciples, leaders, and churches.
Have a great day — and make this life count.
— Rob
