CHANGE IS COMIN’!!
Just about the time we get settled
into our own little ‘comfort zone’ and feel we have found where we ‘belong’ –
change just barges in – and messes up our resolve!! Change disrupts, and disturbs our plans every time!!
And… the complacency we’ve settled into.
Think about it! If you think that where
you are today is ‘all there is’ – and that God has nothing more
in store for you - it would be easy to set down on the sidelines, and let the
‘game of life’ pass you by.
I was witness to my Dad doing just
that. He was a strong, healthy, busy man up to age seventy-six years of
age. When it seemed to him that his
ministry and purpose was over, he set down and waited for death to arrive. He
died within the year. Looking back at his ‘Season”
…I still wish he had realized how many around him needed the wisdom and
understanding he could have taught us.
Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision my
people perish.”
The word “perish” here means to ‘throw-off restraint’. When you run a race you have the goal
set before you – if you are a dedicated athlete, you train for months before
you run your first race. In every race,
you put every ounce of strength you have into it – until you reach the finish
line. Across the finish line, some
runners collapse, and may even need assistance to get off the track; others may
dance around with joy; some even take one last “victory lap” to show they truly
are a champion. The vision has ended, it is complete – and they have thrown off
all restraint and discipline. For a
moment, they take lose their focus.
Our spiritual walk is like that
proverbial “Race.” (In 1
Corinthians
Oh, we can continue to mosey down
the same track, and perhaps even accomplish something along the way; however,
if we allow the distractions of life to steal our vision it will also rob us of
our joy and victory. Hab
2;2-3 says
that we need to “Write the Vision” and “keep it before us”
– so that everyone who sees it will know where they are going.
If you have no “goal” or ‘finish line’ – there will be ‘no restraint’ –
no ‘goal’ - and there will be no ‘win’.
Keeping the vision alive - and in front of you lends itself to the
self-discipline and the character of a champion. It also keeps us ‘on course’.
Perhaps you are in a season where
it appears that the vision, and the purpose that God planted inside you is
“impossible” - or “it’s too late” – or that “God’s plan for you must have come
to an end.” NOT!!!!!!!
Seasons come, and seasons go – But
God’s purpose continues!
Proverbs
When my Great Nephew Miles started
the first grade, he wasn’t real excited about it. He was in a new school with new kids, new teacher,
and it’s quite different than his year in kindergarten. He really did NOT want to go to school. So… should his parents have allow him to stay
at home, or perhaps just let him stay with his kindergarten teacher a few
years, until he’s comfortable with the idea of moving on? Well, of course not! They want their son to grow and
flourish, and to become all that he can be… all that God designed him to be.
The Seasons of our life can be
thought of in this same way. “School” is never out, from the time
we take your first breath, until the time that breath leaves our body for the
last time – we are in school. If we ‘cut
class’ we will take that class over; if we decide we don’t like the subject,
and transfer to something easier - we will have to come back to the moment we
allowed rebellion to lay that subject down, and
start over again. There are usually a
few “full-circle” classes in every life.
Twelve year old niece
Ø She would never achieve the
potential that God has planted in her.
Ø She would stop growing mentally
& emotionally;
Ø What could she achieve?
Ø Where would she succeed?
Ø And the list could go on, and on.
The same is true with the
“Seasons” of our life. You may not like
where you find yourself right now – you may be outside your comfort zone; you
may even feel like you’ve been ‘benched.’
Ecc 3 tells us… (in short) “Seasons come and seasons go – and
that’s the way it’s going to be!”
God loves His children with a
greater love than we can understand; when He determines that it’s time for us
to ‘move up’ (to grow a bit) - He will not allow us to remain in the
comfort-zone of kindergarten.
Did ya’ll
happen to see the movie “
When you find yourself in a new
“Class” or “Season”…
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Embrace it!
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Run with it!
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Run to win!
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Be ALL that your creator designed you to be.
Shalom! Shine on for Jesus!
