Press On!
- chronybe16
- May 31, 2018
- 8 min read
Today I challenge you to “press on”, start or continue doing something in a determined way, despite problems. Many times we become frustrated with life due to failures, mistakes, and unforeseen circumstances. I have lost friends, loved ones, possessions, and opportunities. When I think about past events in my life I have regrets and wish I could change certain outcomes. I have felt condemnation, pain, and remorse for bad choices that I’ve made. Moreover, I don’t necessarily agree with how things turned out but I’m confident if God allowed it then it will work for my greatest good. We have to “press on” in spite of difficulty and know that God the Father has our best interest in mind.
My Pastor preached a message titled “Press On” and gave attention to the following points:
If we were given the privilege to design our own plan we would leave disappointment and frustration out. Life has a way of pulling on you, it’s not always an easy journey.
The worst disappointments come from internal forces.
You can’t even let yourself hinder you from being everything God called you to be.
Forgiveness is an antitoxin. You need to learn how to forgive yourself.
To know God you’ve got to suffer with him (the fellowship of his sufferings) Philippians 3:10.
Trust God when there’s uncertainty, great things will come just wait on him. Even when he’s not working in your face he’s working on your behalf.
After hearing my Pastor preach, I thought about if I never made major mistakes in life how could I encourage others or understand what they feel or go through? This journey is intentional in design. God will use disappointments, failure, mistakes, and shortcomings for his glory. He has our greatest good in mind even when there are detours and closed doors.
In life there will be disappointments but it doesn’t have to be experienced alone. I’m grateful for the hard times in my life because it brought me closer to God and taught me that I could depend/lean on him. Whatever I was dealing with I could place in his hands. I didn’t have to worry about it or figure out details to solve it, that was his job. I was real with God and told him about everything that bothered and made me uneasy. I was given peace in my storm once I turned everything over to him. Many times we want our situation to change but God wants to change who we are in it. God looks at the condition of the heart and his desire is to make us whole and well. This is an inside job, we may look like we have it all together externally but change is needed internally. “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). Gold is put through the fire to remove any impurities that it may have; fire is the best way to purify gold.
There’s a video that I watch on a daily basis and the young lady in the video talks about there being a wealth of outcomes. Many times we think things have to be a certain way in order to achieve an outcome that we desire. When things don’t go as planned we panic and think that life is now a disaster and things won’t turn out as we hoped. But you have to have confidence or another word for it is “godfidence” that however things turn out you will land on your feet. Understand that things are going exactly how they are suppose to be. Where you are is a set-up for what you prayed for. Always remember that “life happens for you never to you”.
Steven Furtick talked about the “gap” in life that we all encounter. We become frustrated because we’re not where we want to be in life. This feeling is intensified when we go on social media sites and compare ourselves to others. We forget our past and the progress that we’ve made so far in life. There’s really two “gaps” that we experience: (1) the gap between where we were and where we are currently (2) where we are currently and where we want to be.
We have to embrace that the God of miracles and promotion is also with us in our “gaps” and difficult seasons. The God of our “gaps” is faithful, comforting, kind, and intentional. In the bible God has made various promises regarding the “gaps” in life:
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
“God Who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again.” (Philippians 1:6)
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)
As a Christian I have found myself questioning my faith and asking God why is this journey so hard? Dr. Matthew Stevenson focused on this subject in his sermon “Sanctify Yourself Against Tomorrow” :
I like where you’re taking me, I just hate how you getting me there.
I love the end result but the twist, turns, starts, pauses and stops...I don’t like this route.
God is looking for people that trust his motive even when they don’t like his method.
God is looking for people that trust his heart even when his hand is hard upon you in the middle.
Have you ever had the thought that life was easier before I decided to follow God? Life was easier when I didn’t have to have faith. When I could just figure it out. I had less strain, haters, betrayers, complexities.
I made the decision to have faith. I can’t figure this thing out, I made the decision to believe in the invisible God and he led me on a journey that demanded that my faith grow. I didn’t want it. I wanted my stuff to be clearly planned out.
Why do the bound have it easier? Why does the heathen have more help? Why does the destructive have more celebration?
Have you ever made a vow to the Lord and decided maybe I’m gonna take this back. My life was better before I was following you. When I was following myself I knew the outcome.
The risk, the fear, the panic of following God is that he is unpredictable. We serve an unpredictable God. You can study his patterns, you can even hear testimonies from other people and it will look like he’s taking you one way and then he’ll show up and say “I am the God of the U-turn”.
Trust the U-turn of God. Trust his U-turn. He knows the way that you take. He’s aware of the dangers that lie before you. He’s already been to the future.
It’s dangerous to get frustrated, to get offended, and to get angry because he made an unsuspected turn. Many times we feel it was better in bondage (sexual sin, not living up to our full potential). The devil loves to make people think that life in disobedience is better than life in obedience.
It’s time to declare “I will obey at all costs”. God is trying to get you to become a “come what may” kind of Christian.
The reason why you think life back there is easier than life up here is because in sin, rebellion, and disobedience you don’t need faith. What did you need faith for when you were on the wrong side of the cross...nothing.
When you step into obedience, commitment, dedication, effort, and pursuit now; you used to live a life driven by and around fear. With sin comes the worship of fear. Phobos - the God of fear. When you divorce that and start trying to follow God you have to learn as if it were a new language.
The devil never tells you to wait. When you start worshipping, God expands your capacity to wait. You cannot be a worshipper and not love waiting. As you worship, war, fast and pray God is deepening your capacity to wait.
The devil don’t care about your readiness, he don’t care about how ready you are. God cares about your readiness. He’ll speak to you about what he’s doing and make you wait until you stretch out to the size of the promise.
The devil will let you have the promise when you're still too small because then the promise will become the predator and you will die by divine promise.
What God wants for you is so big that if he gives it to you before you can handle it it may actually crush you.
Waiting is what God does for people who love him. When you love God for real he make you wait. When you love God for real he shows up late (story of Lazarus). He loved Lazarus so much that he Ignored the deadline of death. Every miracle can only be valued in anticipation.
Nobody leads beyond what they have seen.
God doesn't just lead you to open doors, he leads you by the doors he closes. He’s steering you to pursue the doors that should be open.
The enemy will rob you of the spirit of gratitude especially when you start to compare yourself to other people. God cannot bring you into the promise land until you learn to thank him in the wilderness. Life may not be what you desire but it could be so much worse. You have life, health, strength and protection. Learn to tell God “thank you”, he responds to grateful people. He’s working behind the scenes. Always remember even when he’s not working in your face he’s working on your behalf.
I’m a huge fan of superhero movies, for story development there has to be opposition placed in the film. Opposition provides a platform to show strength and resilience that the audience didn’t know the superhero possessed. In life we face trials and tribulations so that God can show us the super powers (gifts, ministry, qualities, and attributes) that he has placed inside us. He has already completed the story, trust his intention and well-written ending. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
I was listening to Toure Roberts and he stated the following lines in his sermon “When Everything Changed” : Don’t allow the spirit of almost (that thing you hoped for but lost) to keep you from God’s utmost. The almost is the thing that you thought would change your life or the thing you got close to but it fell through. You came to believe that the almost was the utmost. You think the utmost is lost. God is saying, “I had factored in the almost and the reason why I allowed you to experience the almost is because of my assurance of me delivering to you the utmost.” The relationship almost worked, the job almost came through but don’t let the almost rob you of your expectation of God’s utmost.
Many times after we lose in life we forget who our source is. We put our faith in resources and disregard the source. Worry, doubt, frustration, and fear are diminished once we view the Father as our source. Resources will come and go but God remains the same. He has all power in his hands and will restore whatever was lost. Trust his plan and his promise: “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)
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