Hold On. You’ve Almost Made it

A few seconds before sitting down and writing this, I get bad news. A call I never dreamed. A person surfacing that I thought we’d never face again.

And I reel like many of you have; when you’ve been taken back, discouraged, disheartened by the reality that life isn’t going your way.

And who said, skies would always be clear when we follow Jesus?  Who made a doctrine teaching, “We accept Him, and everything will go just perfectly?”

Did Jesus’ journey not lead Him to Jerusalem?

To a cross? Betrayal?

To be seen and scorn by those who claimed to love Him?

Last week at UNITE, I go to write.

My computer stays dark, there is not light. No turning on, no way to reach out to you, words typed on a screen appeared to be frozen.

Yet, how often does life seem like that?  

We go to reach, to call, to put ourselves out there for the sake of His purposes, and all we know and have leaned on seems to lie blank, staring at us defiantly in the face?

The forces of darkness always fighting hard as we pursue eternal things that last long after this earth passes away.

And while the world shouts for our attention, noise blares, life pulls with the force of ten thousand ton jet engine’s…

I seek refuge in the quiet.

It is there I hear Him…

• Him who called Elijah to come and eat in the cave of his worries, His feet still hurting from running.
• The same God who drew Moses to encamp at the wall of the sea, the army of Egypt chasing Him, with the Israelite’s caught between what seems like two evils.
• The same God of Rahab who had faith while living a life seeps in sin, a woman trusting God even though her world was plagued, and there seemed no hope to escape down the wall into the same camp Joshua and Caleb came.
• The same God who led Paul straight to prison, Joseph dependent on dreams and visions to keep the Savior safe.
• The same God who came and went into the most unlikely of places to set the captives free.

Yet, why friends, do we spin ourselves in worry, climb up our Babel towers and expect enlightenment…when He is our only hope?

And can’t you almost hear Him call,  “I take care of the lilies in the field, the sparrow, the least among you all…won’t I take care of you?”

Can’t we trust Him whatever comes?

Friends, I have to tell you, I have been thinking, dreaming, been woken up in the middle of the night with the reality that apart from Him, we have no hope at all.

All man’s plans, foolishness to Him.  His thoughts, His ways so much higher than even Einstein could figure, or Hawkins could explain.

Yet, like the foolish, don’t we too often build our houses on things that won’t last?

Don’t we too often rise up and try to figure out what human strength can change our course…

When making plans apart from Him never brings lasting fruit?

And yet, as I sit here, I see King Solomon, shaking his head in disagreement.  Him saying, rain falls on us all, and everything has a season.

I see the wisest of men telling us, “It’s all about Him; fully, wholly, completely”.

And so, I hang up the call and exhale in faith this realization.

Listen intently, waiting upon the Lord. Kneeling low to pray to the One who saves unexpectedly….

And oh friends, I get it….This life is never easy.

The walk of faith always requiring us to see so much more than what physically lies before us….

Still, as women and men rising, we must not depend on the road and the course the world shows us…

We must have eyes of faith that look up, acknowledging and praising Him in all circumstances.

Because who knows when those we love will be Paul’s on the way to Damascus?  Who knows if those sinning around us will be Mary Magdalene’s suddenly touched by the hand of Jesus?

And who of us have not once been greedy, like Zacchaeus, weak like the woman with bleeding issues trying to grab to His cloak for healing?

How many of us have thought we were right, like Peter on whose Rock God built His church…

Yet, we have denied Him and never even thought twice about it?

I stand at the Jordan, hearing Pharisees, shouting against the one I serve.

They pursue and want to rob from my ministry, my hope, my joy, and my reward…

But yet, I carry on. Will you too?

Because our God never stopped at the cross….He went on and rose.  He didn’t break bread and then not rise up and live what was being preached. My Savior died so that His Spirit could live in me, in YOU….

And although the storms continue to brew, the world fights to stop us from testifying about the good news of our Savior…

We can praise Him regardless, trusting the truth that we can’t see with physical eyes, yet.

Because when He said it was finished, His blood was all we needed….we can believe Him.

• Will you join me in rising today, in a day where it’s easier to shrink?
• Will you fight for that ministry or dream lying dormant that might seem questionable or too big to be completed?
• Will you commit to pressing in, and not growing weary, even when life gets dark and seems insignificant?

Together friends, the Light of His Love will shine brightest, His peace the gift in exchange for perseverance, His joy the hope of our glory waiting for us, as we are being cheered on by a great cloud of witnesses.

Link arms with me today friends, will you?

We’re closer to the finish line than you think.