Bigger Perspective, Better Plan, Greater Purpose

“My tears have been my food day and night.” (Psalm 43:3) It sounds like a bummer of a beginning to a blog but how many can relate? 100% of believers will go through a period where God seems to go silent, or where we’re going through difficult circumstances “Why didn’t you get me out of the path of this circumstance you brought to my doorstep, or this experience I’m going through? If you love me so much, why does this have to happen to me?” Jesus can use any circumstance as a tool for greater things in your earthly life or to attain eternal life.

I remember years back on one of several trips to Scotland, being met at the airport by the local vicar. As we traveled through boroughs, we arrived at the residence next to a church with a large steeple. In the morning I went for a run and realized after some time, I had gotten lost.  Overlooking the township, I recognized one thing: the cross on the steeple. I realized if I could get to the cross, I could find my way back home! The cross carries with it a message of redemption and life – the opposite of “what the enemy intended” (Genesis 50:20). Christ turned an image of trial and defeat into a symbol of hope and new life through His “Bigger Perspective, Better Plan, and Greater Purpose.”

The word for race in Hebrews 12:1 is “Agonas” (the root word for “agony”) and refers to a marathon. The race you and I are called to isn’t easy – there’s struggle and strain; it often feels “uphill both ways.” But Hebrews 12:3 tells us how to run the race: “Fix Your Eyes on Him.” God reminds us repeatedly, “My ways are higher than your ways,” (Isaiah 55:8-9) and when we fix our eyes on His ways – Perspective, Plan, Purpose – we begin to see a better way through. The race may be challenging at times – but with His promises for what He’s growing in us and the Finish Line we’re headed to, it’s a race worth running!

All for Him!

Heb 4:13, Is 55: 8-9, II Cor. 12:8-9