The Sure Thing

Do you ever just feel like giving up?  Do you find that goals just sometimes wear you out?  And what about focus?  How in the world do you keep focused when life throws so many distractions at you along the way?  How do you keep at it when you don't really even know what the outcome will be?

I have my ideals and my hopes and dreams and goals and plans.  And then I have the real world.  

In the real world those hopes, dreams, goals and plans get all jumbled up with work, relationships, leisure time, schedules, sleep and whatever else might seem a little more appealing at the time.  It's the whole spirit willing, flesh is weak thing I've got going on. And then there's also the uncertainty.

But I'm learning.   At this point, its all about belief.  Do I believe?  What do I believe?  What really do I hold onto as truth?  Some of it is educated guessing but some of it is based on solid, sound experience.  I have gone back.....waaaaaay back - back into childhood through my teen years and into early adulthood and re-lived many mistakes made, dreams lost, hopes shattered and there is only one recurring theme.  God.  He was there when I told my first lie.  He was there when I felt my first hurt.  He was there when I said YES to Him for the first time.  He was also there when I rejected him.  There when I realized what wonderful gifts He gives in spite of my rejection.  There when I battled physical and emotional pain.  There when I had no other choice but to turn to Him.  He truly never leaves me.  He's always there to guide me.  He is the only One who can provide the healing I so desperately need and want.  He CAN do what I ask - but WILL He?  That is not for me to know.

If He is there, always has been and always will be and has kept me good through all the trials of my past, even when I wasn't seeking Him or had rejected Him - then how much more will He come through for me now....  Now that I do know Him, now that I do seek Him and now that I do call Him, friend.  He knows each struggle, each heartache and each moment of confusion.  I believe and trust Him with all of that and know that in His time, He will give me answers.  For now, He brings peace, encouragement and love.  And when I'm tired and giving up, He provides rest.

With Him, I am whole:

People with their minds set on you,
   you keep completely whole,
Steady on their feet,
   because they keep at it and don't quit.
Depend on God and keep at it
   because in the Lord God you have a sure thing. (Isaiah 26:3-4)