Faith

Ephesians 6:16
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 
 
Faith is a word that is discussed often. When things go south, or we have to wait on things, we say “just have faith”. However, throughout scripture and life, I’ve learned some things about faith. I’ve learned that faith itself is not nearly as important as WHO we have faith in. I’ve learned that faith isn’t hoping an outcome turns out like we want it to. Faith is knowing that however it turns out, God is in control and that He knows far more about what is best for us than we do. By all means, pray for what you feel is the desired outcome in every situation, hold fast to it, ask for it, persevere in it. But when the smoke clears, the object and source of our faith is more important than the outcome.
 
I’ve also learned throughout scripture that faith is more often used as an active word than a passive one. Read Hebrews 11: By faith, we understand. By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain. By faith, Noah built the ark to save his family. By faith, Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob. By faith, Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. The list goes on. It’s clear that faith is a mindset that leads to action. Faith doesn’t mean you know how it will turn out. Faith means you trust The One you have the faith in enough to obey what He says regardless of how it turns out. Faith isn’t talk. Faith is action. Is there anything in your life that you should start doing in faith? Is there anything in your life you should stop doing in faith? I don’t know where you’re at, but I know for me, faith leads to a constant growing and molding from God. After all, faith is confidence and assurance for things we can’t always see. 
 
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
 

Provision

Exodus 16:4
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day”
 
Joshua 5:12
And the day after they ate from the produce of the land, the manna ceased. Since there was no more manna for the Israelites, they ate from the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
 
Throughout my life, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to discern the difference between God’s job and my job. I feel like I have a grip on this when it comes to eternal salvation and the big picture. However, trying to figure out where that line is in the day-to-day operations of life is difficult at times. Do you ever feel that way? The goal of this piece is not to answer that question, but to simply offer insight into passages that have helped me grasp this better. I included two opening scriptures today instead of one to make sure I conveyed the point accurately. 
 
In first passage above, God rains down manna right into the lap of the Israelites. However, in the second passage, they were told to get their own food from the produce of the land. God had sustained them in the wilderness by providing manna. But once they arrived in Canaan, He wanted them to gather from the crops of the land. In some seasons, God provides in a supernatural way that we can’t explain. In other seasons, God asks us to use the abilities He’s given us to harvest from the opportunities He’s given us. In both seasons, God is still the provider. As I look back on difficult seasons in my life, I’ve learned that I never had a provision problem on God’s end, but a stewardship problem on my end. I encourage you to join me this week in being thankful for God’s provision in all seasons, whether supernatural or mundane. After all, we are to be content with God’s provision in all circumstances. 
 
Philippians 4:12-13
I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need, I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

Anger

Ephesians 4:26-27
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil
 
If you are human, you’ve experienced anger. I know it’s a familiar companion to me. I’ve let anger get the best of me more than once. Whether it be ruining a family gathering with my temper or getting ejected from coaching a baseball game while serving as the local FCA Director, I know the damage anger can cause. How do you handle anger when it arises? Do you manage it well? Do you give full vent to rage and damage relationships? Based on scripture, the anger itself is not sinful. But the actions, words and attitudes that flow from the anger are sinful. When anger arises, we have the ability through the power of God’s Spirit, to say no to the actions, words, and attitudes that can follow. Because of what Jesus has done on the cross, we can choose to say no to our sinful desires in the moment of anger. Self-control is a fruit of God’s Spirit.
 
Throughout my life, I’ve learned that my biggest strengths can become my biggest weaknesses. My passion and intensity can quickly cross the line into anger and rage. Sometimes, our biggest sinful actions and thoughts usually come from God-given gifts that are used in a sinful way. Righteous anger can turn to rage. Simple hunger can turn to gluttony. God-given desire can turn to lust. The desire to provide for our family can turn to greed. The right thing done at the wrong time can still be wrong. When anger arises this week, don’t beat yourself up. Feel it, process it, look for the cause of it, but above all else, take it to God. God can handle our anger (read Psalm 73), He wants us to go to Him in the midst of it and call on His Spirit for the self-control needed to be angry and not sin. After all, our anger is not a good tool to accomplish God’s righteousness.
 
James 1:19-20
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 

Mundane

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
 
Life has some bad days. Life also has some good days. But most of life seems to be just regular days. Some of us veer off course during good times. Some of us veer off course during bad times. But some of us can lose focus during mundane times. Mundane is defined as: lacking interest or excitement. Do you ever have days that lack interest or excitement? Do you ever feel like your life in general is lacking interest or excitement? I know I’ve had seasons where I felt that. Sometimes I do things that feel pointless, boring, or a waste of time. In those times, we need to shift our perspective. As new creations, children of God, recipients of eternal life, a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit of God Almighty, everything we do has a purpose.
 
It’s easy to cut corners, it’s easy to do things without full effort. It’s easy to let the small, mundane things go by without appreciating them. However, God tells us in scripture to do everything as if we were working for Him and not for man. God has given us life today, God has given us a purpose today, God has blessed us with the ability to do His will today. Let’s not cut corners, let’s embrace the good, the bad, and the mundane. Don’t let the monotony of success suck the life out of you. Embrace it. Those who master the little things are ready to master the big things. After all, our Master is not of this world, He is in heaven. 
 
Colossians 3:23-24
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

Affliction

Psalm 119:71
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
 
Affliction is simply defined as: pain or suffering (or for some of you, it's also a t-shirt you thought was cool in 2006). No one likes to experience affliction. However, if we allow affliction to run its course, we can learn to experience God in a deeper way. Some lessons are impossible to learn on the mountaintop; they can only be learned in the valley. I’ve also realized that people call out to God way more often in the valley than on the mountaintop. In the above verse, the author even says it was good for him to be afflicted, because he learned the decrees of God. What affliction are you experiencing today that you want to get past? Is it temporary? Is it a situation that may never be alleviated? I don’t know what it is, but I know how it feels. And I know God is in it with us. He tells us we will have pain and suffering on this earth. 
 
During times of affliction, we are often tempted to drift from our calling, drift from our focus, let our guard down, and numb the pain. Don’t cave in. Stand strong. I’ve found the following to be true in my life: pain and affliction will pass, but the consequences of the decisions I make to numb the pain may not pass so quickly. During many times of my own affliction, I’ve made decisions that caused further pain. The initial affliction came to an end, but I had a bigger mess to clean up due to decisions I made. Remember this: short-term pain often leads to long-term peace but short-term pleasure often leads to long-term pain. Stay strong in your seasons of affliction, they will always come and go. Let the affliction run its course. Let God mold you through it. What can you learn in today’s valley that you couldn’t grasp on yesterday’s mountaintop? After all, the outcome of perseverance through affliction is maturity.
 
James 1:4
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Narrative

Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
 
If we aren’t careful, we can begin to write a narrative in our mind that is contradictory to what God thinks of us who are in Christ. Over the years, I developed a very performance-based narrative in my mind. A lifetime of playing and coaching sports taught me to think that I was only as valuable as what I produced that day. On the bad days, I felt distraught. On the good days (which were rare), I felt good for only a fleeting time. Then I moved the bar so I could continue to disappoint myself. Every day I would present my daily accomplishments to God and wonder, was I good enough today? This was exhausting. It wasn’t until I came across and began to meditate on Romans 8:1 that I began to find freedom from performance-based thinking and a performance-based narrative in my walk with Christ. 
 
Before we enter into relationship with Christ, we are dead in our trespasses and hopeless. But when we recognize our sinfulness and rely on the sacrifice of Jesus, we are saved by His grace, are new creations in Christ, and created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:4-10, 2 Cor. 5:17). There is no more wondering if we are good enough or if we have performed enough to earn God’s love. We are never good enough and we can never perform well enough to earn God’s love. Only due to the sacrifice of Jesus do we receive the love and worth God bestows upon us. I encourage you to meditate on this truth today. Preach the gospel of unearned grace, love, and worth to yourself today. Re-write the narrative in your mind to one of unconditional love and worth received by God based on Jesus. It takes time, it’s a daily practice, but we can choose what we think. After all, scripture tells us to renew our minds. 
 
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Invest

2 Timothy 2:2
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
 
Most of the time, when we hear the word investment, we think of money. But today we are not talking about money, we’re talking about a spiritual investment. The power of an investment is the activity that takes place when you’re not around. The power of an investment is the activity that takes place after you’re gone. Spiritual, God-breathed investments are the most important ones we can make. Life is short, and we don’t have much time on this earth compared to eternity. What type of investments are you making today that are going to last beyond this earth and into eternity? Scripture is filled with instances of God’s people taking what God had bestowed onto them, and investing it into others.
 
As parents, spouses, coaches, leaders, mentors, teammates, and friends, we have an abundance of opportunities to make eternal investments that will pay dividends long after we’re gone. A Christian psychologist once told me that the older we get the more we start thinking about what we will leave behind. So my question for you today is this: what are you going to leave behind? The power of what you leave behind after you’re gone is directly related to the investment you make while you’re here. Spiritual, God-breathed investments of the gospel into other people will pay dividends far after you’re gone and will have eternal impact. The gospel is still being preached today because of the investment Jesus made into his disciples. The evangelism that Paul started is still being carried out today because of the investment he made into Timothy and others. My life work carries on because of the investment people have made into me. God enables and empowers us to make the investment. He provides the fertile hearts to be invested in. He provides the compound interest beyond what we can comprehend. Let’s go invest today. Many years from now, what we leave behind is all that will be left. After all, eternal investments are far more valuable than earthly ones.
 
Colossians 3:2
Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.

Remain

Numbers 9:17-18
Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 
 
One of the hardest things for me to do is wait and be still. I desire to see the action, control the situation, and take charge. However, through scripture and my own experience, I’ve learned that God moves mightily in the times of waiting. Throughout scripture, God’s Word reminds us to remain in the middle of what He’s doing. In the scripture above, God told the Israelites to set out when the cloud moved and to settle when it settled. Would you have struggled with this command? It would have been tough for me. Do you ever feel like God is asking you to remain in a situation that you think you should move forward in? I know I do.
 
Speed and efficiency are not always the point. The end goal is a continued trust and dependence that God is the one in control of the situation, not us. As we’ve mentioned before, sometimes God wants us to learn to trust Him in a season before He leads us out of that season. The command for the Israelites to wait was to learn to depend on God. It was a command to His people to remain in His presence. This command was a foreshadowing of the command Jesus gives us in John to remain in Him. Don’t get ahead of God. Remember, we can be content without being complacent. Press forward while remaining in the center of God’s will. God wants us to be prepared for our next season. But our growth in this season reaches full maturity only when we remain where He has us until His work is complete. After all, it’s impossible to produce spiritual fruit unless we remain in Him.
 
John 15:4
Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 

Seize

Proverbs 12:27 (AMP)
The lazy man does not catch and roast his prey, but the precious possession of a [wise] man is diligence [because he recognizes opportunities and seizes them].

I love the word "seize". Seize is an action word that means: to take eagerly and decisively. Life is about seizing the opportunities that God gives us. I’d rather be known as a man who seizes an opportunity and fails, than a man who lets the opportunity pass by as I watch. As I write this, I’m riding a bus through the mountains of Alaska with a group of college baseball players I serve as chaplain for. For some of them, the next two weeks will be the last baseball they will ever play. I’m encouraging them to seize this opportunity. Some opportunities are easy to recognize and seize. But what about the spiritual opportunities God gives us that the world disguises as inconveniences? The most powerful movements of God in my life have come from opportunities that were difficult, inconvenient, and didn’t seem possible to start with. But that’s how God works.
 
What if Abraham would have stayed at home and never went where God called him? What if Moses would have stayed in the wilderness? What if Joshua would have never taken Jericho? What if Lazarus would have stayed in the tomb after Jesus called Him out? What if Peter would have stayed in the boat? What if I wouldn’t have responded when the Spirit of God was calling me into relationship with Him? What if I wouldn’t have shared the gospel with those God has called me to? What God ordained opportunities are you letting pass you by today? What opportunity is God calling you to seize today? God provides the opportunity and empowers us to walk in it, we must seize it. After all, great works of God start when we seize what God has for us.
 
Matthew 4:19-20
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. 
 

Reflect

Joshua 4:6
So that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

I must confess, pessimism and negativity come easy for me. Since I was a young boy, I’ve been able to walk into any situation and point out what’s wrong. This is often a bad outlook, but this weakness is also a strength at times. One of my best characteristics as a leader is the ability to find weak spots and correct them. However, this principle that makes me effective as a leader also does some damage in my marriage and parenting. Are you like this? Do you like to self-predict a negative outcome and then subconsciously fight to fulfill your prediction?
 
God wants us to view the future with optimism. Not optimism that it will always work out just right, but optimism that He is the one guiding the narrative regardless of the circumstances. In order to rest in confidence about what God will do in the future, we need to reflect on what He’s done in the past. In the verse above, God commands Joshua to take stones from the Jordan River to remind the Israelites of what God has done. This reminder of God’s past faithfulness will help them trust in what He will do in the future. The stones remind them that the same God who took them across the Jordan will guide them in battle. I encourage you to join me in the habit of putting spiritual markers in your life that remind you of God’s past goodness. Remember what He has done. Reflect (think deeply and carefully about) on what He has done. Don’t focus on what’s wrong. Focus on who God is. All throughout scripture God tells His people to remember who He is. The God that got you from there to here is still present. When in doubt: Remind. Remember. Reflect. After all, God is the one who will meet our past, present, and future needs.
 
Psalms 81:10
I am the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
 

Together

Acts 2:1-2
When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.
 
In December 2011, I witnessed the Spirit of God rush into a hospital room in Diriamba, Nicaragua and move on the hearts of two men and bring them into relationship with Him. I was a first-hand witness to God’s Spirit ushering souls from the Kingdom of Darkness into God’s eternal Kingdom. In June 2015, I witnessed the Spirit of God work in a small group in La Romana, Dominican Republic and move in a high school baseball player’s heart to call on the name of Jesus for the first time. On other occasions, I’ve witnessed the Spirit of God move in a room full of men here locally. This resulted in a number of them confessing strongholds in their life and asking for prayer and accountability.
 
Throughout scripture and in my own experience, there seems to be a common theme when God moves in a situation. That theme is that believers were gathered together. God moves in solitude and He moves when we are alone. But He does powerful works when believers gather together to agree and intercede on one another’s behalf. The Christian walk is not an individual sport, it’s a team sport. Is there a stronghold or situation you can’t seem to make any progress in? I encourage you to get real with fellow believers, confess to them, ask for prayer, and agree to intercede on each other’s behalf. Powerful things happen when we get real, when we get honest, and when we get together and get desperate for God to move. After all, confessing to one another is what brings healing. 
 
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. 

Obey

1 Samuel 15:22
Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
 
It seems that knowledge always outweighs obedience. Our ability to actually do what we already know we should do is lacking. For example, I know how to lose weight; eat less and move more. However, I sometimes like to eat more and move less. Receiving godly wisdom and knowledge is the easier part of the process. Actually obeying the knowledge we receive is not so easy.  
Saul learned this lesson in the verse above. Saul knew what to do, but he didn’t do it. He had the knowledge, but lacked obedience. Samuel reminded him that obeying the Lord was the most important thing he could have done.
 
I sometimes find myself asking God to tell me something new, when in reality I’m not doing what I know He’s already told me to do in His Word. In my experience, God usually doesn’t reveal something new if I’m not willing to do what He’s already revealed. Maybe we just need to do what we already know we should be doing. The more people obeyed simple commands in scripture, the more they were trusted with. When in doubt, OBEY. It’s not easy, but it is simple. Obedience takes time, discipline, practice, and ultimately the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. After all, even Jesus learned obedience through suffering.
 
Hebrews 5:8
Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

Approval

Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
 
I battle daily with wanting the approval of others. I have found that most people I encounter battle with wanting the approval of others also. I’ve made many poor decisions in my life when I tried to appease the masses. Many great leaders have steered off course as they continued on the ever-changing treadmill of approval from their people. Many have started strong in their walk with Christ only to take a detour in an effort to please others. As leadership and influence grow, balancing the approval of others with what God wants us to do becomes more difficult and complex. 
. 
At some point in life we all have to make a fundamental decision to value what God thinks over what people think. This is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 1:10. Paul knows it’s impossible to live the life that Christ wants him to live if he’s always seeking the approval of man. By all means, take into account what others say, listen to feedback, let your trusted inner circle critique you. But when your actions are constantly dictated by what other people think, you become defeated, discouraged, and ineffective. You’ll never win the approval of everyone. The noise will get loud and the critics will get louder. When this happens, get alone with God, get with His Word, get wisdom from your trusted counsel, and do what God wants you to do. Don’t cave to the crowd. After all, some of the greatest potential for God’s Kingdom is wasted due to the fear of man. 
 
John 12:43
For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Lead

1 Corinthians 10:23-24
“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up.  No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person.

The price of leadership is high. The mantle of leadership is heavy. The cost to lead is higher than the cost to follow. As 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 summarizes, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. As a leader, you must always weigh how your decisions will benefit others. The context of this verse is in regards to not letting your decisions become a stumbling block to others. If you want to lead well, you’ll have to start doing some things you don’t want to do and stop doing some things you want to do.
 
In the realm of spiritual leadership, the greatest leaders take on the role of the greatest servants (Mark 10:42-45). This is contrary to how the world system views leadership. Leading the way Jesus wants us to lead takes discipline, and it’s impossible without the power of God’s Spirit. I’ve developed a brief leadership prayer that I’ve made a part of my regular routine. I ask God to help me with the following when it comes to those I lead: Lord, please give me the wisdom to learn them. Lord, please give me the strength to love them unconditionally in light of what I learn. Lord, please give me the power through your Spirit to live in a way that leads them to You. Learn. Love. Live. Lead.
This has helped me lead in a way that honors Christ as opposed to honoring man.  Jesus modeled this type of leadership to the letter. After all, what other leader do you know of that died on a cross and walked out of the tomb for the people HE led?
 
Philippians 2:8
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.

Prayer

Daniel 10:12 
“Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.
 
Since I was a kid, prayer has been hard for me to understand. I’ve learned more about it over the years, but I still wonder. When I was young, I used to always ask my mom the following: “if God already knows what’s going to happen, why should I pray about it?” That’s a question I still ponder from time to time, but a few years ago, I read the above verse (Daniel 10:12) and my view on prayer changed. The fact that God hears and acts on our prayers is humbling. The angel told Daniel that from the first day he purposed himself to understand and humble himself before God his prayers were heard.
 
We don’t always know what God will do with our prayers. We don’t always know when or how they will be acted upon, but we do know this, God hears us. Our Father hears our cries and He knows what is best for us and when it’s best for us. If we could figure God out, He wouldn’t be God. His goal isn’t to always give us what we want. His goal is to further conform us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28-30). Regardless of what you are praying for right now, I have one statement for you: Don’t quit, God hears you. I am a product of years of fervent and consistent prayer. My mom poured her heart out to God interceding to the throne of grace on my behalf many years before the seeds of her prayers were harvested. I run into people I don’t even know who tell me they prayed for me years ago and still do. Don’t give up. I’m glad those praying for me didn’t give up. After all, the goal is for God to do His will through us, not for us to try and do our will through God. 
 
Matthew 6:10
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
 

Errors

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
 
In baseball, an error is what happens when a fielder misplays a ball that allows a base runner to advance or extend an at bat.  In life, an error is an act which is inaccurate or incorrect. Another word for this is sin. All baseball players make errors. All humans sin. It’s unavoidable. No one is perfect. This reminds me of a saying I heard once, “There are two things you should never underestimate: the power of God and the frailty of humans.”
 
An error on the ball field should cause you to quickly reflect on what caused it, put it behind you, and get back to the fundamentals that got you to where you are. If you dwell on it too long, you’ll render yourself useless to your teammates because the ball will find you again. An error in life should cause you to do the same. Don’t dwell on it and sit in your shame. Quickly reflect on what caused it, put it behind you and do what you need to make it right. Then, get back to the fundamentals of diving deeper into the gospel of Jesus Christ. You are going to mess up somewhere today. You’re going to fall short. You’re going to make an error. I’m not condoning or supporting sin here, just like no coach wants his players to make errors. But we know they will happen. What you do afterwards is what matters, take it from a guy who’s made plenty of errors on the field and in life. The enemy wants you to sit in your shame and never move forward. But our God wants you to keep moving.
After all, the Spirit of God got us here. Don’t try to do it yourself now. We can’t.  
 
Galatians 3:3
How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
 
Sports make sense for a number of reasons, but one of those reasons is because they have a distinct starting and stopping point. This starting and stopping point is known as a SEASON. No matter how difficult or successful the season is, there is a sense of urgency because you know it will end. You want to soak up all you can when it’s going great, and you can’t wait for it to be over when it’s going bad. But is it possible to learn more in a tough season than a good one? Is God still good in the losing seasons or is He only good during the winning seasons? Ponder that question and reply with your thoughts if you’d like. 
 
In life, there are also seasons. However, a lot times in life, we don’t know when these seasons are going to start and we rarely know when they are going to end. Some of these we do know, such as seasons of parenting, travel, moving, etc. But what about the seasons we don’t anticipate and we don’t know when they will end. Seasons such as sickness, unemployment, tragedy, loss, rebellion, addiction, depression, failure, brokenness, or unexpected success. I’ve learned that all of life is a season in one way or another, and it’s important to embrace each season because God has sovereignly allowed it in our lives. I’ve found that God usually doesn’t change a circumstance in my life until my fulfillment and peace no longer depend on the circumstance being changed. He loves us too much to allow us to put our hope in the fickleness of the ever changing circumstances and seasons. He does this so we will anchor our hope in Him and the finished work of Jesus on the cross.  Whatever season you are in today, I challenge you to embrace it, allow God to work in it, because He’s trying to teach you something through it.
After all, the good and the bad seasons are sovereignly allowed by the same Holy God. 
 
Job 2:10
Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?”

Sufficient

2 Corinthians 3:4-5
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.  Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.
 
Do you have what it takes? Do you measure up? Are you good enough? These are questions I wrestle with all the time. Do you? Maybe it’s just me. I’ve learned how to battle these thoughts and questions. It is by realizing and embracing that I don’t have what it takes, I don’t measure up, and I am not good enough, but Jesus Christ is. His grace is sufficient, and because He is sufficient, I am sufficient. I am because the GREAT I AM says I am. Enough said. 
 
I’ve spent a lot of time chasing things for fulfillment only to discover that God has already given me everything I need. The things that bring the most peace, joy, and fulfillment usually don’t come with a price tag and they can’t be earned. That’s the gospel at work. Contentment in the sufficient grace of Jesus is what brings peace. Don’t worry, you can be content without being complacent. By all means, run the race to win, do your best, maximize your calling and gifting, but don’t be surprised in the lack of fulfillment that comes when you catch what you’ve been chasing. If the achievement is your sole source of fulfillment, you will stay on the treadmill and eventually burn out. Realizing that you are just as sufficient at the beginning of the journey as you are at the end is the real victory. After all, His power is perfected in our weakness. 
 
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Finish

Philippians 1: 6
I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
 
We need more finishers in the world we live in today. People who complete what they start are a dying breed but make an eternal impact. Sometimes, the greatest success we will ever find in life is simply by persevering to the end of what God has called us to do. Throughout my time on this earth, I’ve rarely been the most athletic, fastest, strongest, smartest, or most talented person in the mix. But my key to contentment has always been simple: FINISH. I may not come out of the gate the fastest, but when God calls me to something, I never quit until He’s done with me. When everyone else gives up, gives in, or quits, let’s remain, persevere, continue, and finish. You may not have started strong, you may have taken a detour, but you can make up for it by staying the course when everyone else veers off. Whatever you may be tempted to quit today, I encourage you to persevere and finish. Your journey in your calling, marriage, parenting, business, church, school, team, season, or whatever you are in right now. Finish. The Kingdom of God needs finishers. After all, what other kingdom do you know of that was started with the words 'IT IS FINISHED'!

Galatians 6:9
Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.