Running to Win

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36). I had a professor in Seminary who would say "Its always to soon to quit." Those words were spoken in a time when the average stay of a pastor was under two years. The above passage says the same thing, Don't quit, its too soon to quit, persevere, keep on keeping on. The Lord is telling us to stay confident in Him. Things don't have to go our way, we can be assured they are going His way. That's what really matters in the end. We find real comfort in the Lord's command to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). The word "Trust" means to fall flat on your face before. The word indicates a total trust which would not in anyway rely on self, resources, other people, or cleaver schemes. Our trust is to be in Him alone. When we fall flat on our face before Him we are saying I surrender everything to You. I give you total control of my life, my future, my finances, my relationships, my possessions, my health, and every other aspect of my life. Then watch Him work, for its all about Him. He is God and I am not. Ya know, I can write about this a whole lot easier than I can live it. That is why I need to actively do things that will keep me close to the Lord. Like what things you may ask? Well like prayer, Bible reading, fellowship with other believers, attending church, and obeying God. He never moves over but I have a tendency to do so. The song writer said "Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love." In His grace He is faithful to keep on calling me back to fellowship with Himself. I will be the first to acknowledge that it can be hard to stay focused when life begins to crumble. Staying confident when it seem like our life dreams have evaporated can really be tough. Those are the times we must pray for strength, and exercise faith in the God who is too wise to make a mistake. These times are designed by Him to deepen our dependency and strengthen our resolve to follow Him. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.