20 Bible Verses for When You Feel Like Giving Up
The bible verses most often turned to when you feel like giving up are Galatians 6:9, Isaiah 40:31, Luke 18:1, Isaiah 43:2 and Lamentations 3:22-23. All twenty below are King James, and each one has a line underneath about when to reach for it.
You do not have to read all twenty. Take the one that matches today.
Bible verses about not giving up, the ordinary kind
This is not about walking away from your life. It is about the quieter version, the one nobody asks about.
The version where you think about how much easier it would be to stop trying. To stop making the effort with the person who does not make it back. To stop praying about the thing you have prayed about for two years. To let the house stay as it is, and the plans stay unmade, and see what happens.
That is the kind of giving up most women mean. And it usually arrives on an ordinary Tuesday, not in a crisis.
If that is where you are, these are for you.
20 bible verses for when you feel like giving up
1. Galatians 6:9 — And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
For when you have been doing the right thing for a long time and nothing has changed.
2. Isaiah 40:31 — But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
For when waiting is the hardest part.
3. Luke 18:1 — And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
For when you have stopped praying about it because praying started to feel pointless.
4. 2 Chronicles 15:7 — Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
For the day the work feels wasted.
5. Isaiah 43:2 — When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For when it feels like too much at once.
6. Lamentations 3:22-23 — It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
For the mornings you did not want to wake up for.
New every morning. Not new once you have earned them. Not new once you have pulled yourself together.
7. Psalm 73:26 — My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
For when you have run out and there is still a day to get through.
8. 2 Corinthians 4:16 — For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For when you look tired and feel worse.
9. Psalm 34:18 — The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
For when you cannot explain to anyone why it is this hard.
10. Deuteronomy 31:8 — And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
For when you are the one everyone else is leaning on.
11. Psalm 55:22 — Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
For when you have been carrying it alone.
12. Hebrews 12:1 — Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
For when you need to put something down before you can keep going.
13. Proverbs 23:18 — For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
For when this feels like it will never be over.
14. John 16:20 — Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
For when someone tells you to look on the bright side.
Turned into. Not replaced, not undone. The same sorrow, turned.
15. Psalm 27:13-14 — I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
For when you need something good to happen in this life, not the next one.
16. Psalm 121:7 — The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
For when you are afraid of what is coming next.
17. Romans 8:28 — And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For when you cannot see how any of this could be for good.
18. 1 Corinthians 15:58 — Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
For when you want proof it mattered.
19. Philippians 1:6 — Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
For when you think you are the thing that is failing.
20. Psalm 37:4 — Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
For when you have stopped letting yourself want anything.
Encouraging bible verses for tough times, and what to do when one does not help
Sometimes you read one and nothing happens. That is not a failure of faith and it does not mean you picked the wrong verse.
Say it out loud anyway. Especially when you do not believe it.
Write it somewhere you will pass it. The inside of a cupboard door. The car dashboard. Not a notebook you have to remember to open.
Take one, not twenty. One verse for as long as you need it is worth more than twenty you read once.
Ask for the smallest thing. Not for the whole situation to resolve. For today.
If you want more, here are 50 bible verses for every season of rebuilding, and 25 bible verses for strength on the days you have none left.
Which part of this are you actually in?
Feeling like giving up usually means something specific has run out. Sometimes it is energy. Sometimes it is money, or hope, or the sense that anything you do will make a difference.
Knowing which one it is changes what you do next.
I made a short quiz that helps you see which part of your life is asking for attention first. It takes about three minutes.
You do not have to become a completely different person to faithfully steward the life God has entrusted to you. You simply need to begin, right here, right now, with what is already in your hands.
I am not standing at the finish line looking back. I am on the trail with you.
One faithful step at a time,
Elizabeth Jane
