Faith to carry you through

2 Corinthians 4: 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. [NIV]

I have to keep this post short. As I write this, I am in the middle of one of the most difficult situations of my life. My child must return to the hospital for further medical testing. I will probably discuss this further at another time when we receive more information. For now, my biggest fears come from the fact that all of this is out of my control. Of course, like most parents, I wish I could go through this for him, but all I can do is go through this with him and wait and wait and wait. I know I am not the only one facing hardship, so I hope this message speaks to you.

A life in Christ does not mean we will never face hardship; rather, we have the knowledge of knowing that no matter what this world throws at us God has our back. He will never abandon us or forsake us. Although we may feel at times that we are at the end of our rope, God reminds us that we are not at the end of our hope. It is often during the times we feel most broken that God does the most work in our lives. When we feel we are weak, He shows us how we are actually strong because He is our strength. Do not lose hope before God has a chance to do His work in your life. Draw in closer to God instead and trust that He will. God loves you my friends, and nothing can ever change that. Be blessed.

You can't run a race backwards

1 Corinthians 9: 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Philippians 3: 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The thing about a race is that you have to stay on course. It's really hard to win a race if you are incapable of following the track. Your eyes need to stay fixed on the goal ahead, if you are to reach the end. You cannot stray to the left or to the right and expect to get there. Moreover, it's really difficult to get anywhere if you are always looking backwards instead of forward. You cannot see the path before you, if you are constantly living in the past. Now don't get me wrong; looking back with fondness at beautiful memories is fine, but spending all of your time looking at your life with regret is completely different. Regret is a stronghold because regret places your focus on the wrong things. Regret prevents you from living your life in the way God intended. Living your life focused only on the would've, could've, should've in your life is like trying to run a race backwards; it just doesn't work; trust me, I've spent a lot of my life living backwards.

You cannot change the past, but you still have the future to look forward to. It's not too late to get back on track, and live your life in the way God intended. God calls us all to greater things than this, so we must persevere and press on. God calls you into a life of abundance. He calls you into His presence to walk in His joy and peace. The path ahead is glorious, even you are struggling in the present, but you cannot move forward if you are still living in the past. Let go of the past and accept the things you cannot change because God accepts you as you are, and in this way you will find the freedom that comes from living a life in Jesus Christ. I pray you all experience and live in the love, and joy, and freedom and peace of God. I pray for extraordinary favor for each and every one of you.