Press On
Straining Toward~
Not fun words.
Instead, why didn't God say
Skip~
"Not that I have already obtained all this,
or have already arrived at my goal,
but
I SKIP ON
to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
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
SKIPPING toward
what is ahead,
I SKIP on toward
the goal
to win the prize for which
God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14
Hmm...
one little word changes everything, doesn't it?
A peace fills my soul
as it makes me not
be anxious
or fearful,
as I now feel like a little girl
just playing through life
because
I know everything is okay,
even if it isn'.t
But oh I wish it that was easy to just
Skip~
but because God tells it like it is
He has to use the words
Press & Strain.
As my heart is so sad
as I think about another
phone call
and then an another email,
that I just got yesterday,
about
Real Life
about
Real People
who don't feel like
Skipping
because of what their loved ones
are experiencing
that is out of their control.
Ugh.
I get it as
Real Life
is all around us
and we can't stop it
as you are living it too.
Maybe that is why
God doesn't tell us to
Skip
because He knows
Heartache & Pain & Sadness
and He knows how hard it is to
Skip
in the midst of it
and that is what makes
Him
A Real God
who has given us a reason to
Skip
even if it feels like
Pressing & Straining
because
if we could see the
Prize
that is waiting for us
at the end of our journey here on earth
as we are
Pressing & Straining
there will be some
skipping
as we
"Rejoice in our confident hope
Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying." Romans 12:12
And by taking our eyes off of the
Heartaches & Pain & Sadness
for one brief moment
to just look up into the
eyes of the one
who had to look at
Heartache & Pain & Sadness
when His Son was on that cross
so that
we have a
Prize
awaiting for us
that we are
Pressing & Straining towards
even in the midst of tears
because
we have a
Father who loves us
A Son who carries us
and
A Holy Spirit who lives in us
who enables us
to take our next breath when we don't want
to face what we don't want to face
to feel what we don't want to feel
and
to shed tears in the midst of
because
there is so much more
beyond the
Heartaches & Pain & Sadness
and the only way is to
Press & Strain
yet with
His Peace
His Hope
His Joy
tucked inside
so that
we do get to
Skip
together
through this
Real Life
with
a
Real God
who makes it possible to
Press On
&
Strain Towards.
*****
Real Life. Real Stories. Real God.
From Rags to Riches~Living the Abundant Life in Him.