Yes I know its Tuesday. Yes I know its been a while since I posted. Just deal with it! HA HA :-D
“7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”
(2 Timothy 4:7 NLT)
Adam and Eve ran and tried to hide.
Cain went out in the wilderness.
Moses took off for the desert.
Jesus went up the mountain or went into the garden sometimes to pray and sometimes to simply "get away from the crowds."
The Apostles took off when Jesus was arrested and had to be found when the news of the resurrection was started to spread.
Were they running away from something? Or running toward something?
Some people “run” to get away from something or someone.
Running away gives a break, a pause, a time to catch one’s breath.
Running away sometimes solves very little.
Running away can provide safety, escape, and a chance to recover.
Running away can put something behind us.
Running away can make one feel they have put off something that was going to happen anyways.
Running away with no purpose, no goal, no vision, is pointless. There is no value, no growth.
Running away is not always the answer.
Running TO something, on the other hand, is a little different perspective.
Sometimes running toward something requires something else to be moved out of the way.
Sure there are things that block the road. We can either let those things stop us cold or we can find a way through or around. Some people will run away from the things that block their way. They just don’t want to deal with it.
Running toward something is just as hard as running away from something; it’s just a different direction.
Sometimes we and what we do can look like absolute failures.
Carrying guilt or looking to blame others solves nothing. That’s running away. Running toward a goal does not carry the guilt. Running toward something uses guilt as a step to something better. Blame does nothing but make us feel better about ourselves. Blame hides deeper problems and is running away. It’s pointless.
Look at Paul.
Paul as Saul was mean and cruel, but he had to get past that part of his life.
When Paul traveled and started churches, Paul had trouble being accepted. People remembered his past. When Paul was beaten he never became bitter. When, during a storm at sea, other people on the boat were talking about leaving Paul OUT OF THE LIFEBOAT, he used it as an opportunity.
Paul sometimes had to run away But God used it as an opportunity. During his travels, Paul was wrong about Mark. He allowed this to separate him from a dear brother. Paul remembered Mark’s past failures. But it was God’s plan that Mark and Barnabas go a different direction from Paul. Not to run away, but to go in a different direction.
God had to move something out of the way for something better to happen.
As Paul pens these words that he has fought a good fight, Paul realizes that he would have done many things different in his life.
Sometimes in the book that is our life there are happy chapters, sometimes there are sad chapters, sometimes there are victories, but also know that the times of failure and running away are part of the work of God also.
But whether our book contains victory or failure, we must know how to write the last chapter and there is a time we do what we can and move on.
We get disappointed by others, we get disappointed by ourselves, but we cannot let bitterness, anger, and disappointment drive us away
God’s purpose for our lives is His glory. Maybe once we understand this one simple fact we will stop running away.
Hello Again!!
7 years ago
