SUNDAY WORSHIP | 10 AM | DR. HOSEA COLLINS | CALVARY HAWTHORNE | 06.28.2026 - 2026-06-29

When You Feel Like Giving Up, Don't

Monday — Understanding the Truth

Have you ever been in the middle of believing God for something — and instead of things getting better, they got worse?

Today's Scripture "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." — Galatians 6:9

Reflection That one little phrase at the end carries everything: if we faint not.

The promise isn't in question. The harvest is already planned. The only variable is whether you hold on long enough to receive it.

This is the heart of what perseverance through prayer is really about. It's not about saying the right words or performing some spiritual ritual. It's about refusing to quit when quitting feels like the only reasonable option.

Think about Bartimaeus — the blind man in Mark 10 who sat beside the road calling out to Jesus. People around him told him to be quiet, to stop bothering the teacher, to accept his situation. But instead of shutting down, he got louder. He pressed harder. He refused to let opposition become his answer.

Here's what's worth sitting with today: the fact that you're still believing, still praying, still holding on — that matters. God isn't withholding the harvest because he forgot you. The season is coming. The condition on your end is simply this: don't faint.

Quitting isn't always dramatic. Sometimes it's just slowly going quiet — stopping the prayer, lowering the expectation, accepting the lie that nothing will change. Today is a good day to decide not to do that.

Today's Step Ask yourself honestly: Is there something I've quietly stopped believing for? Bring it back to God today, even if it's just a whispered "I'm not giving up."

A Closing Thought The harvest hasn't been cancelled — only delayed. And delayed is not denied.

The Crowd Will Try to Quiet You

Tuesday — When It's Hard

You finally work up the courage to believe for something — and then everything around you seems to say, Who do you think you are?

Today's Scripture "And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me." — Mark 10:48

Reflection Bartimaeus wasn't fighting a small battle. He was blind, sitting roadside, dependent on the charity of strangers. And when he heard Jesus was passing by, he did the one thing he could — he cried out.

The crowd's response? Shut up.

And if we're honest, that crowd shows up in our lives, too. Sometimes it sounds like other people's doubt. Sometimes it sounds like your own internal voice reminding you of every reason this won't work. Sometimes it's the silence of unanswered prayer stretching on so long that quitting starts to feel like wisdom.

Here's what's easy to miss: the opposition itself might be a sign you're onto something. If you weren't headed somewhere meaningful, there would be nothing to oppose. Resistance isn't always a red light — sometimes it's confirmation that you're moving in the right direction.

The enemy can't stop you from receiving what God has for you. He can only try to get you to stop yourself. His strategy isn't force — it's discouragement. He needs you to faint.

So when things get harder instead of easier, when the crowd gets louder instead of quieter — that might not be a sign to stop. It might be the very moment to press in a little more.

Today's Step Think about one area where opposition has made you go quiet. Today, instead of silencing yourself, bring it to God again — out loud if you can.

A Closing Thought The crowd told Bartimaeus to stop. Jesus told him to come. Listen to the right voice.

Check Your Settings

Wednesday — Putting It Into Practice

When your phone stops getting calls, you don't throw the phone away — you check the settings. What if the same principle applies to your inner life?

Today's Scripture "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." — Colossians 3:2

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee." — Isaiah 26:3

Reflection There's a difference between a thermometer and a thermostat. A thermometer tells you what the temperature is. A thermostat sets what it's going to be.

God created you to be a thermostat.

When you speak what you see — the debt, the diagnosis, the relationship strain, the door that won't open — you're functioning like a thermometer. Accurate, maybe. But not powerful. The moment you begin declaring what God says instead of only reporting what you observe, you've switched modes.

This isn't pretending things aren't hard. It's choosing to set the dial to what God has promised and then giving it time to catch up. Because here's the thing about a thermostat: when you change the setting, the room doesn't cool instantly. You have to wait. And if you get impatient and reset it back to the old temperature, you've undone your own work.

Practically, this looks like catching yourself when you speak defeat over your situation and choosing a different word. It looks like praying the promises of scripture instead of just listing your problems. It looks like acting — even in small ways — as if what God said is already true.

Today's Step Pick one area of your life you've been "thermometering" — just reporting the bad news. Write down one thing God says about that situation and speak it out loud today.

A Closing Thought Your life tends to move in the direction of your most consistent thoughts. Set the thermostat, and give God room to work.

The Ones Who Tried to Stop You Will Lead You There

Thursday — What This Looks Like in Real Life

What if the people making your life hardest right now are actually part of how you get to where you're going?

Today's Scripture "And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good cheer: rise, he calleth thee." — Mark 10:49

Reflection Here's the detail in the story that's easy to miss: the very people who told Bartimaeus to be quiet were the ones Jesus sent to bring him forward.

They became his escorts.

Imagine a woman — we'll call her Renée — who spent years in a job where her ideas were dismissed, her voice was talked over, and her ambitions were quietly mocked. She kept showing up anyway. She kept doing good work. She refused to get into battles with people who didn't believe in her. She put her energy into the work and into prayer instead.

One day, one of those same skeptical colleagues — trying to explain to a new manager why Renée was "hard to manage" — accidentally described her in a way that made the manager want to meet her. That conversation led to a promotion that changed everything.

She didn't engineer it. She didn't fight her way there. She just refused to faint, refused to waste energy on the wrong battles, and trusted that God could use even the opposition to open the door.

Your enemies don't have the power to stop your story. But they might just have a role in it you didn't expect.

Today's Step Think of someone or something that has felt like an obstacle in your life. Ask God: Is there a way you're using this that I haven't been able to see yet?

A Closing Thought God has a long history of using the wrong people to put the right person exactly where they need to be.

Act Like You Already Know How This Ends

Friday — Carrying It Forward

If your boss sent an email today saying everyone is getting a raise next month, would you wait until the check cleared to feel good about it — or would you already be making plans?

Today's Scripture "This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." — 1 John 5:14–15

Reflection There's a word tucked into that verse that changes everything: have. Not "will eventually receive." Not "might get someday." Have — present tense, already settled, already yours in the economy of faith.

When Bartimaeus cried out and Jesus called him over, he was still blind in that moment. Nothing had physically changed yet. But Jesus asked him, What do you want me to do for you? — and the answer Bartimaeus gave was the answer of a man who already believed the miracle was happening.

That's the invitation for you as you head into this weekend.

Whatever you've been praying for, whatever you've been holding on to through this week — God is asking you the same question: What do you want me to do for you? Answer it like you believe he hears you. Think like it's coming. Speak like it's true. Make small decisions that reflect the reality you're trusting God for.

This isn't wishful thinking. It's faith with legs. And faith, the Bible says, is what pleases God. It's what moves things.

Today's Step Before the weekend is over, spend five minutes thanking God — out loud — for what you're still waiting on, as if it's already on its way.

A Closing Thought You've held on all week. Don't let go now. The harvest belongs to those who don't faint — and you're still standing.