I have not blogged in quite a while. Many topics have come to mind, but
the burning desire to write did not come along with them! Lately, a subject has been stirring in my
spirit that I feel led to share. I don't
know about you, but I have been in a season of change, transition and
regrouping in many areas of my life. Seasons like this can be so uncomfortable that the tendency is to simply
stop. That's the easy way out and the
option the enemy loves to entice us with.
As I was driving home from work last week, the Lord gave me some insight
that encouraged me and reminded me to press on even through the storms of
life. I was on the interstate headed
home when all of sudden I ran into a terrible rain storm. It was one of those where visibility became
extremely limited as the rain was beating against the windshield. I initially considered pulling over since I
was already traveling at a snail's pace with my emergency blinkers
flashing. Before pulling over, I called
home to let my family know what was going on and find out what the weather was
like there. When my daughter answered, I
asked about the weather and her response was, “It’s all clear here.” After hearing that report, I felt a new
desire to keep driving now that I knew what was up ahead. As I continued to drive, the weather subsided
the closer I got to our house, and by the time I arrived, the weather was perfectly
clear. That's when God spoke to me. He said that we do the same thing in our
spiritual walk. When we face storms in
life, we often take what appears to be the easy way out and pull over and get
out of the race. However, if we simply
keep moving, we will ride out the storm until we arrive at the destination he
has for us. If I had stopped on the
interstate, I would have prolonged the time I had to deal with the downpour and
delayed my arrival to clear weather. I know how hard it is to survive what I
have termed the “gut punches” of life---those things that come against us
unexpectedly to knock the spiritual wind out of us. What God was saying to me was that we cannot
allow those things to stop us. Just like
when I kept driving through the storm, we have to keep pressing through hard
places that come against us to cause us to give up. I've actually had moments
when I have said out loud, “I give up!” (As my pastor would often say, “Maybe
you’re more spiritual than I am and never had moments like that!”) Thank God I
was able to shake off the despair and not camp out in that place. Instead of
focusing on current circumstances that may be disappointing, frustrating, hurtful,
etc., we have to remain focused on the promises of God concerning what's ahead.
I want to encourage those who have been bombarded with the storms of life to keep
moving and don't give up. After all,
it's hard to hit a moving target!
Remember, all is clear up ahead.
Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I do
not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of
the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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