Don’t Lose Momentum
Watch out for that banana peel!
Oh the things that get in our way and cause us to slip, trip, or fall. Those pesky banana peels. The gum on our seat. The bubble in the carpet. The friend who talked behind our back. The coworker who sidled up to the boss and took the position we were gearing for. You know the things that cause us to lose momentum in our everyday walk.
How often have we allowed those things to cause us to downshift into a lower gear or stop and shift in reverse? We can be going along at a nice pace, oblivious to the fact that we’re about to step on a banana peel and slide into the ditch where we’ll spend a little while trying to figure out how to get out again. Been there? Done that? Yeah, me too.
Life is Like a Box of Chocolates
In the words of Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Cliché but true. We don’t know what we’re going to get in life. But we could make preparations ahead of time so that when we do get an unexpected chocolate we’ll know how to swallow it without making a face.
There are times when we find ourselves in that slippery spot, that miry muck that place that causes us to wonder if God really has our best interests in mind. Of course He does. But when we’re in a low spot and our momentum has slowed to the speed of snail it’s easy to begin to think negatively. It’s easy to think we may be going the wrong direction, or maybe we’ve done the wrong thing.
God is Not Mad at You
Is God mad at me? Is He punishing me? The answer to those questions is, NO. God is not mad at you. God is not punishing you. God loves you. He has not nor will He ever give up or quit on you. He has such a great big plan for your life; things you have no idea about.
Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. Thank the God of all gods, His love never quits. Thank the Lord of all lords. His love never quits. God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits! ~Psalm 136:1,26 MSG
When you find yourself in a pit and you wonder how you missed the banana peel this is the best time to call out to the Lord and ask Him to help you out. But be aware that while you’re in the pit, there may be a lesson for you to learn there.
Run With It
We’re all in the race of life. There are lessons to be learned, people to be helped, and things to be accomplished. We often wonder what our purpose is in life. We wonder where we fit into all this. But we each have a calling. We each have a purpose. The trick is to discover what that is and run with it.
Many times though the thing we’re called to do is something that scares us, makes us uncomfortable, or we just downright don’t want to do it. And that my friends is how we slip on the banana peel, sit in the gum, or trip on the bubble in the carpet. That fear we feel, the uncomfortable feeling we feel, and the obstinate attitude we take are all things the enemy throws at us to either prevent us from cooperating with God or cause us to doubt our purpose.
So how do we identify it before we mess up? Sometimes we don’t, especially if we aren’t paying attention. But if we are looking for it, if we’re prepared for it, we can get ahead of it and keep our momentum going.
Stay Connected
By staying connected to God in prayer, reading our Bible, and surrounding ourselves with Godly people we can stay connected spiritually. We’ll become stronger. We’ll be able to sense a spiritual attack before it actually happens. We’ll be able to identify it and head it off. Yes, the attack will still come, but we’ll be prepared and be able to plow through it without losing our momentum.
Stay Positive
In Algebra we learn that a negative times a negative equals a negative. A positive times a negative also equals a negative. But a positive times a positive equals a positive. If we surround ourselves with positive things, positive people, and positive talk, we’ll stay positive. However, if we are constantly surrounded by negative things, before long we’ll begin to think, speak and act negatively. In the spiritual though, we can take something negative and turn it around to positive, which totally blows the algebraic equation out of the system. So stay positive.
Stay With It
Don’t ever give up. Many people quit the race when they lose their momentum. They get discouraged. They get embarrassed. Then they lose hope. This is exactly what our opponent wants us to do. Lose hope. He wants us to become distracted. He wants us to lose momentum and just give up. If we start to believe we’ve fallen too far behind, we’ll give up and that’s exactly the ploy of the enemy.
However, if we stay with it and begin to fight back we’ll catch back up. Seriously, this isn’t a race to see who comes in first. Actually, if we know Jesus, we all come in first! You see, all those who are pushing and shoving now trying to get ahead of the game in whatever way they can (lying, cheating, and stealing) will one day find themselves at the back of the line while those of us who kept our momentum throughout the race will be moved to the front. So stay with it!
Life is a bumpy, slippery, sticky mess. There are things and people who will do whatever they can to slow you down and cause you to back off. But if you trust the Lord and keep your pace you’ll soon find yourself in a happier place because of it. And while you’re at it, have fun!
