Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
Tough times and trials have been promised to the disciple of Christ. So too, the presence of Christ during those tough times and trials. Today’s word of encouragement comes under the heading of “resilience” – the ability to adapt to the adversities of life and to keep moving forward in faith. The Bible is full of examples of resilience in action like Job in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament, and many admonitions to keep pressing on even when we find ourselves in the pressure cooker of challenge. Here are a few:
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, the person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)
Because the believer is united to Christ, resilience is the only right response to the waves of challenge in life. The same power that raised Jesus from death to life, is the same power that is at work inside every child of God. Resurrection power is not the power to “return” to something . . . bouncing back. Rather, it is the power to breakthrough to a better and brighter future. Because we are new creations in Christ, there is nothing to bounce back to. Everything is in front of us. To be sure, we are to treat the past as a school, and take the lessons from it. But bouncing back has a tendency to keep us living in the past rather than learning from the past.
So, the next time the waves of challenge begin to wash over you and you are facing the fiery furnace of affliction, or simply dealing with the increasing pace of change, know that God has promised to bring you through it all and cause you to bounce forward not back. Remember, because the best is always yet to come, we are to be bounding forward not backward, knowing God is bringing us to the end of ourselves and that only happens while we are moving forward in faith. Let these words of Paul encourage you to keep bouncing forward regardless of the circumstances you are facing:
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but no in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 