Hurdling through...- in His Word 6-15-15
But
none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I
may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord
Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.Acts 20:24
While working on a project that requires
many people and is set to produce a furtherance of the kingdom, as with any ministry
event, problems will arise.
It may seem at times that the hurdles we
have to fly over are way too high and that many things are preventing us from
reaching the finish line; but God has a plan.
For I know the plans I have for you…
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us. He does indeed have a plan, and I am quite certain that
I do not always know just what God’s plan is in a situate even as I live
through it. Step by step I walk through the process of planning, setting up and
executing the event and yet there always seems to be one trial or another to
overcome during the process.
At times it may seem as if it will just not
happen. I often feel as if I will fail before I get things off the ground and
yet … He knows the plans He has for me. A wise young man ones spoke about a
mission trip focusing on the fact that as troubles came they looked at it with
the focus of “What’s God going to do with this?”. I like that! No, I love
it!
For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in
power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of
men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having
received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to
all in
Throughout the Old and the New Testament in
the Word we see God doing amazing things in the midst of desperate situations.
I am amazed each time I read about how he provided mana from heaven for the
people of Israel
Our
jobs are to press on, to complete the race and then to obtain the prize of
eternal life. We like to scale it down from project to project, and that is
okay but it truly is about the big picture; its not about my view of things but
His great and grand view and purpose.
While writing and producing Vacation Bible
School’s for the summer we have a large number of objectives that take a full
year of planning; ideas, scriptures, storylines, people to help, act and teach;
these are only a few but they are all hurdles to run over. Sometimes it seems
as if the closer we come to the production part the higher and wider the hurdle
becomes; but God is with us in our race.
As a young teen I ran hurdles a couple
times in track meets. I did not finish first by a long shot but I did complete
the race each time. I have short legs and this was a great feat to attempt and
so to me staying on my two feet to the end of the race was enough.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to
all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,
for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his
ways.James 1:2-8
Often I think that life is like this; we do
not have to be first to win the prize we just need to complete the race on our
feet! We need to do our best but if our best is not better than the rest it
does not matter as long as it is good enough for God to see we have done our
personal best. God requires this of us, that we do our utmost for His utmost is
in us. The only way to do that is to work the job knowing that He is in it, for
if God is for us no one can stand against us. (Romans 8)
The Holy Spirit, the one that guided us to
salvation, is with us every step of our Christian walk to direct our paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-7) We must keep running until we reach the end of the path. We
must stay on the path so that we do not run into another runner or trip them up
by hitting their hurdles with our floppy feet.
It is a matter of progressing forward on
the path that God has set before us and not tripping up on the way. In order to
do this we must trust that we will stay on the path; keep our eyes on His
direction and He will direct our paths.
Sure occasionally we may knock our hurdle
with the toe of the back foot in crossing but we cannot stop there and reset
the hurdle we must continue to run forward! We must continue to fight the
fight, to push on, to run the hurdles in front of us and keep on running until
we reach the finish line.
But none of
these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24
We are all running the race; we shall all
be changed in the running. Of this I am
sure that we will all run, but some will stumble and fall while others continue
to stay upright flying over the situations that arise in front of them. I plan
to keep my eyes on Jesus as I run and know that He will direct my path and to
remain in the joy of the Lord; for the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected;
but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also
laid hold of me. 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, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus. Therefore
let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think
otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we
have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.Philippians 3:12-16
Dear Heavenly Father, Help us
to run with joy unspeakable and strength unbelievable as we hurdle through this
weeks trails and troubles. Grant us your peace in the midst of things and keep
our eyes heavenward. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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