Matthew Trexler | REFOCUS | May 1, 2022
Hebrews 12:1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Desperate moments refocus our faith.
“God is drawn to the desperate.”
When we refocus we will come face to face with our fears, and we will have a decision to make… fight or flight?
Will we fight while on “E”?
Genesis 31:31 Jacob answered Laban, “I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force.
Genesis 32:26 “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Every good thing is possible, but not without a fight.
“The quickest way for anyone to reach the sun and the light of day is not to run west, chasing after the setting sun, but to head east plunging into the darkness until one comes to the sunrise.” – Gerald Sittser, A Grace Disguised
Plunge into the darkness.
When we don’t give up there is a blessing waiting for us, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a limp.