RUNNING OUR OWN RACE

Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith….

Scripture talks about our lives as being like a race which we are all running in, and sometimes we make the mistake of thinking we ought to run our race the way others do. If we don’t pray or read scripture like they do, the enemy will try to make us feel guilty, but God has given each of us the grace to run our own race, not someone else's.😊

Some people’s lives are filled to the brim with activities, but that may not be the way God wants your life or mine to be. He has made us all unique with different temperaments, different strengths and abilities and we should never feel less than, just because we’re not like someone else.

God made us all to be originals, with a purpose specifically designed for our own lives so we need never bow to the pressure to be somebody we were not made to be by God. We can be at peace in our own skin and know that if we have God’s approval then that’s all we need.

If we try to please all the people all the time we’ll find ourselves going round in circles, and becoming exhausted in the process. We never read about Jesus being in a hurry and yet He accomplished everything God sent Him to do. He wasn’t a people pleaser, He was a God pleaser and we are called to imitate Jesus.

There is freedom in knowing that, and it helps when we extend to one another the kindness of letting other people run their own race and be who God designed them to be and enjoy one another’s differences. We’re not called to be like everyone else, and the only mould we’re to fit in, is the one to be like Jesus.😊

We are God’s unique masterpieces, created in His image to bring Him glory. So let’s enjoy the race we’ve been called to run, strengthen our weak knees when we feel wobbly, and run it to the very best of our ability with our eyes fixed on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.😊 Amen.

Photo by Mārtiņš Zemlickis on Unsplash

NEVER DOUBT GOD CARES

1 Peter 5:7 AMP casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].

Don't you care! Maybe you’ve felt like saying that to God at some time? It’s a cry from the human heart when it feels ignored or unloved, or invisible. But the thought occurred to me that God could also ask us that question when we live as though He’s not listening, as though He doesn’t love us, and we become weighed down with care, worried and anxious.

God knows us all so well and Jesus himself must have been tempted to feel that way because He was tempted in every way we are. In fact, on the Cross, Jesus cried out from the depth of His soul, “My God, My God. Why have you forsaken me?” But He was forsaken so that we never will be, to give us a future and a hope. What a thought!

Jesus experienced all we do and far far more, because Isaiah 53 tells us He was acquainted with deepest grief, that He bore all our griefs and sorrows so we wouldn’t have to carry the weight of them any more. But the thing is, we have to give them to Him.😊

God cares. He knows what’s happening. Hosea 14:8 NLT … I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. It really doesn’t come any clearer than that, so if ever the enemy comes and tries to tell us God doesn’t care, just read that verse over and over again!

We can come to His throne of grace and know God’s loving arms are reaching out to comfort us, to tell us He’s working everything out for our good if we’ll keep trusting Him and remember what He started in our lives He will bring to completion, so be encouraged.

As we begin another week God assures us we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt: God loves us, He cares for us and He cares about us and as we stay in faith He will unfold His good plans for us all.😊 Praise His name. Amen.

Photos: Md Abu Nasir Limon on Unsplash