Release Your Grip on the Old
"Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ."
Philippians 3:7 (NIV)
Never forget when facing an ocean of trouble that you are passing through.
I know when you consider the word ocean, you understand the largeness and the intimidation of what you’re facing. But do you also understand the surety and the confidence of how you’re going to face it? You’re passing through.
It’s an ocean of affliction—expansive and arrogant, intimidating and daunting, potentially perilous and admittedly scary. But here’s how you’re going to face it. Here’s how you’re going to endure it. This is what you do while you’re waiting on change to settle in. You keep reminding yourself that you are passing through this season.
Now, what this calls for is your continual push. You pace yourself forward. You endure. You preach to yourself, “It’s just one more day, and if all I can give God this day is one thing, I can give him the offering of my push.”
Don’t project tomorrow’s pressures and responsibilities. Focus on being a good steward of the push you have today, because the promise over your life is this: while you may be facing an ocean, you’re just passing through.
If God is promising me that I’m passing through, then I’ve got to meet His promise with my necessary push. I may not have much to give, but I’m going to keep on pushing. I may even do it with an attitude, but I’m going to keep on pushing. I may be feeding my own mentality and emotions with doubts and cynicism, but that’s all right, because God has put the promise on my life that despite the ocean in front of me, I’m going through it. If I can keep that truth central in my thinking, then no matter what emotions, no matter what attitude, no matter what disposition, no matter what doubt, no matter what fear I may have, I’m at least going to give God my necessary push.
A woman once rushed up to the famed violinist Fritz Kreisler after a concert and said to him, “I’d give my whole life to play as beautifully as you do.” Kreisler replied to her, “Well, I did.” In the same way, your whole life should be a continual push forward. It is not about intermittent bursts of faith and isolated events of deliverance. It is a continuum where we are offering our life, our faith, our patience, and our sacrifice as we wait for changes to unfold.
No matter what stands in front of you today, give God your determination to push through it.
