Why Do We Give Up So Easily?
- A Pentecost Reflection with Brother Tuck
Acts 2:2–4 (MSG)
“Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks…”
We often want faith to be gentle, like a breeze through a quiet chapel. But when the Spirit came at Pentecost, it wasn’t a breeze. It was a wildfire. It blew the shutters off their fear and filled the disciples with a courage they didn’t know they had. Not even one of them came away untouched.
And yet, how quickly we expect comfort?
How easily we retreat when it costs us something.
Today, we give up when our prayers aren't answered on our timetable.
We grow cold when we don’t “feel” God.
We stay silent when speaking up might mean losing friends or followers.
But let’s remember this: after Pentecost, the disciples didn’t get a comfortable life. They got a dangerous calling. They were mocked, imprisoned, exiled, stoned, and killed.
Still, they pressed on.
Why? Because the fire in them was greater than the fear around them.
And that same fire, the Holy Spirit, is alive in you.
Not a lesser version. Not a polite, modern edit.
The same Spirit that turned fishermen into fearless apostles burns in your chest.
But here’s the secret: the flame doesn’t stay lit in a distracted soul.
It is fed by quiet prayer, by holy obedience, by weeping with the broken and feeding the hungry. It is fanned into fire when we stay, when we serve, when we surrender.
So why do we give up so easily?
Because we’ve mistaken following Christ for admiring Him.
Because we’ve made convenience our creed.
But Pentecost calls us to more.
Dear soul, the Spirit does not promise ease, but He does promise presence.
And in His presence, we find the strength to keep going, even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.
A Thought to Chew On:
"The fire that does not consume is the fire that refines." – Brother Tuck
A Call to Action:
Tonight, light a candle. Sit in silence. Ask the Holy Spirit to re-ignite what fear and fatigue have tried to snuff out.
Then go love someone, boldly.
Through our lives and by our prayers. May Your kingdom come. In the name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit. Amen
