Muscles And Weddings And Such

Dear Friends,

This past weekend we were in New York City for our nephew’s wedding. It was a great time of being with friends and family, and celebrating the work God has done in bringing together my nephew and his wife! It was also a weekend of walking. I’m not sure if you’ve been to New York, or spent much time in the city, but it’s definitely a place where you walk - a lot.

The result is that, since coming home, I’ve been feeling sore muscles in places I didn’t even know I had muscles. Today the aches and pains seem a bit worse, and as I was hobbling towards the closet to get dressed, I was reminded of Paul's words in Philippians 3:14 - “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” That’s exactly how I felt as I “pressed on” toward the closet to “receive the prize” of being able to sit down to put my shoes on!

It’s a silly example, but there are so many times in life when we have to do exactly what Paul says - we have to “press on” in our walk with God. The Greek word Paul uses for “press” in this passage means “strong exertion” - sort of that feeling of every muscle burning as you force yourself to complete the task you're working on. Not being a runner, I can only imagine what it must be like to finish a long race. Every muscle in your body must be aching as you force yourself to push through the pain to reach the goal you set out to conquer.  

It's the same in our walk with God. There are times when it just gets hard. However, it’s during those times that we learn what it means to walk by faith and not by feeling. As much as we long for things to be comfortable and easy, we can't live our spiritual lives on an emotional high. Sometimes we will feel God very close, and other times we won’t. So learning to walk by faith and not by emotion is part of spiritual maturity. And it comes when we “press on” in our walk with God - pushing forward even when it's hard and we don't feel like persevering.

Two thousand years ago, God loved you so much that He sent His son to die on the cross for you, and for me. And Jesus persevered and obeyed until death - and then God raised him up from the dead. And because He did that for us, we can live for Him today. He will give us the strength we need to get our sore muscles working for Him - no matter how tired we feel, or how far away we think the finish line might be. 

I'm not sure where you are in your walk with God right now. Possibly you’ve seen God at work and you’re feeling enthusiastic about your journey today. Maybe, as you've been running, you've found yourself in a place where you're dragging worry, or anxiety, or fear, or sins along on your race - and so you’re worn out. Or maybe you've become discouraged, and you're not even sure why it is you're running this race anymore. Whatever you’re feeling as you read this - today, let’s take a minute to look up and remember that obedience to God is why we’re running, and He’s the one we’re running to. Then, despite our feelings, let’s ask Him to give us all we need to keep running so that we can receive the heavenly prize He has waiting for us.

Amen?

Daniel