There are moments in life where quitting feels reasonable.
You prayed.
You obeyed.
You waited.
You kept showing up.
And still, nothing seems to move.
The walls are still standing.
The breakthrough still hasn’t come.
The pain still feels present.
In her message Don’t Quit On Six, RIVERS Church Montreal speaker Melody Loria reminds us of a powerful truth found throughout Scripture: God finishes what He starts.
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6
The Danger of Stopping Too Soon
We live in a culture trained for immediacy.
We scroll quickly.
We skip ahead.
We abandon things when they become difficult or repetitive.
And often, we approach our spiritual lives the same way.
We love the idea of God’s promises, but when the process becomes painful, slow, or confusing, we begin to wonder if God has forgotten us.
But Scripture repeatedly shows us that God works in stages.
Creation itself unfolded day by day.
Jericho’s walls did not fall after one lap.
Jesus did not stop halfway to the cross.
God is intentional. He is not chaotic.
And unfinished seasons do not mean abandoned seasons.
Jericho and the Sixth Lap
In Joshua 6, God gave Israel unusual instructions before the walls of Jericho would fall.
For six days, they were told to march around the city once each day in silence.
No visible progress.
No cracks in the wall.
No signs that anything was happening.
Imagine how exhausting day six must have felt.
The walls were still standing.
The promise still seemed distant.
But the breakthrough was never attached to lap six.
It was attached to obedience through completion.
Many people quit spiritually because they mistake delay for denial.
But sometimes the miracle is waiting on the other side of continued faithfulness.
God Is Still Working In The Waiting
One of the most powerful themes of the message is this:
Just because your story is still in process does not mean God is absent from it.
Waiting seasons often feel frustrating because we want immediate change externally. But God frequently uses those seasons to transform us internally.
Galatians 6:9 says:
“Let us not grow weary of doing good, because in due season we will reap if we do not give up.”
Sometimes repetition is not punishment.
Sometimes it is formation.
Sometimes God delays the external breakthrough because He is developing internal fruit.
Why We Quit Early
The sermon honestly confronts the reasons many people stop before completion:
- The process feels repetitive.
- The prayer feels unanswered.
- The emotions become overwhelming.
- Strongholds begin shaping our identity.
- The enemy convinces us nothing will ever change.
The message describes strongholds as small lies that slowly grow into false realities we begin to live by:
“I’m not good enough.”
“Nothing will ever change.”
“This is just who I am.”
But Jesus came to destroy those lies.
John 10:10 reminds us:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
The waiting season is not proof that God has abandoned you.
It may actually be the place where He is doing His deepest work.
Jesus Didn’t Quit At Six
The greatest example of perseverance is Jesus Himself.
He did not stop when the road became painful.
He did not abandon the assignment when fear appeared.
Hebrews 12 says:
“For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.”
And because He endured fully, He was able to declare:
“It is finished.” — John 19:30
That completion changed everything.
Because Jesus finished His work, renewal is possible.
Freedom is possible.
Healing is possible.
Resurrection is possible.
What Do You Do While You Wait?
The message gives a deeply practical answer:
Serve.
Examine your heart.
Stay surrendered.
Remain faithful.
Waiting is not wasted time.
The waiting room can become a classroom if we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us there.
Micah 6:8 gives the posture we are called to carry:
“To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
God is not looking for performance.
He is looking for surrendered hearts.
Your Story Isn’t Finished
Maybe you did not choose how your story began.
Maybe you carry wounds, disappointments, grief, or unanswered questions.
But every new day is still another page.
And God is still writing.
The silence is not proof that He has failed.
The delay is not proof that He is absent.
The sixth lap is not the ending.
So keep walking.
Keep trusting.
Keep obeying.
Keep surrendering.
Because God finishes what He starts.
🙌 Call to Action
What if the breakthrough is on the other side of your seventh lap?
What if the silence is not abandonment…
but preparation?
Don’t quit because the process feels repetitive.
Don’t walk away because nothing seems to be changing yet.
Don’t let delay convince you that God has forgotten you.
Keep walking.
Keep trusting.
Keep surrendering.
Because God is still working in places you cannot yet see.
And while you wait for the walls around you to fall,
He may be transforming something within you first.
So stay faithful in this chapter.
Stay open in the waiting.
Stay surrendered to the Author.
Because your story is not finished…
and God does not quit on what He started.
By Melody Loria