There are certain days in our lives when all we feel like doing is quitting everything: our job, school, maybe even our relationships with friends and family. A cause for these feelings is a dependence on our own strength and a failure to grasp and orient the power given by God.

When I feel like quitting, it is because I am worn-out. Friendships, family, classes; they all take more energy than I have to give, and at times it is exhausting. However, the good news is that if you are in Christ, there is a stream of living water flowing deep within that can invigorate and strengthen the weariest of people.

The Power Within is a Person

In the book, The Lord of the Rings, the main character Frodo Baggins is charged with destroying the ring of power. Before Frodo goes on his quest, he meets with Bilbo Baggins who gives him a sword, some other objects, and a coat of armor made of mithril. In the Lord of the Ring’s world, mithril is one of the most valuable substances known to man. It is a 1000 times more valuable than gold, and 100 times lighter. While he goes on his journey, Frodo hears his companions say, “Bilbo had many possessions, but his most valuable possession was his mithril coat; if we sold all the property in our land it wouldn’t come close to the value of that coat.” When Frodo hears this, his heart quickens, and he says, “Underneath my coat I have Bilbo’s mithril coat which is more valuable than this entire land.” Along the same lines, Christians have something that is more valuable than anything else in this world.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

If you are a born again Christian, the moment you believed in Christ you received the Spirit of the Living God. It is the Spirit of God that was responsible for creating this universe! It is the Spirit of God that distinguishes Christians from non-Christians (Romans 8:9). It is because of Him that we can find the energy and power to keep going when all we want to do is quit.

The big question then is how do we rely on His strength instead of our own? To answer this question, we must first answer a more important one: “Why have we been given the Spirit in the first place?” It says in John 16 verse 4, that the Spirit has been given to glorify Christ. We have the Spirit so that Christ can be glorified. When we recognize why the Spirit has been given, then we are able to submit to Him and rely on His strength.

In our daily tasks, when we aim to glorify Christ, the Spirit will then empower us to do so. As we seek to do this, the Spirit will provide the means and the strength that we need. That being said, glorifying Christ in what we do is not something that happens naturally. We have to consciously align our tasks with that purpose, and then faithfully do it as unto the Lord. The outworking of this process looks differently for different people. Nevertheless, as you aim to glorify Christ in the task, the Spirit will empower you to do it.

What is beautiful about our Lord is that He sees all tasks as an avenue for Him to be glorified. In our churches, there is sometimes a “secular vs. spiritual” dichotomy. We can falsely assume certain tasks as God glorifying, and view everything else as pagan. But the reality is this: whether we eat or we drink, we can do it as unto the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:31), an implication being, all the tasks that we do can be done under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

If the Spirit indwells you, then you are connected to the source of power. All that you need in order to bring God glory is available to you. The only thing you need to do is aim to glorify God in what you are doing. This is not a natural predisposition, so it must be cultivated, and when it is, the Spirit will enable you. What the Lord demands from His children, He Himself provides. Though this life is difficult, and often we feel like quitting, our Lord has given us His Spirit through whom we are empowered to glorify Christ.