“God, why didn’t you answer my prayer?  Why didn’t you bless the project I started? The initiative I chose to be a part of? Why didn’t you bless the decision that I made?”

How many times do we find ourselves asking those questions, and then doubting God’s ability or His willingness to intervene in the daily circumstances of our lives?  

I find myself in front of my computer while drinking a cup of coffee.   For a minute, I ponder on my dreams and on God’s promises for my life, and I hear my own thoughts:  “They are so distant”...  Then I sense a sigh coming from somewhere deep down in my heart.  “Why even bother…”

As I lower my head and begin to yield to resignation, I recognize something else coming from a different region of my heart...

The weather was perfect that morning and I had about an hour to squeeze in a run.  An hour...  “If I optimize for distance, maybe I can do 8 miles today… Or should I optimize for speed, run a shorter distance and try to crush the record for this segment of the trail?”

I love trail running.  The wind on my face, the smell of the woods and the sound of my shoes pounding on the dirt...

Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth. - Mike Tyson

That’s not a proverb coming out of the mouth of King Solomon, but boy can we relate.  Right?  We set out with high hopes, full of strength and enthusiasm.  We feel our hearts coming alive.  We can do it, we’re unstoppable and we know it...  But then, at the blink of an eye, everything is just a blur...

No matter how much we try to make life work on our own, the result, sooner or later, is the same. But we keep pushing.  We keep trying… in our own strength.  There’s something deep inside that believes that we can actually “trick the system”, that we can be the exception.  That we can do it, must do it...  On our own.  All the while God waits.  Patiently.  Lovingly.  Honoring our will and our decisions.  

Think of your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.  What is the legacy you are going to leave them? How would you want to remembered?   Will you be the guy who simply worked to accomplish a lot and left them some money, but was really "kind of an a*hole"?  

Or will you choose to draw a line in the sand and say "It ends here.  All that ends with me"?.

If you were to randomly choose ten Christians on their way out of church on Sunday and ask them “What did Jesus come to do for you?”, what do you think they would answer?

I bet you a great majority of them would describe how Jesus came to forgive us of our sins so that we can go to heaven, or some variation of that phrase.  

Is that true?   Yes, of course... Well, kinda.  

The issues with your marriage that you’d rather not think or talk about.  The long-standing addiction that you feel ashamed of and that you’ve tried to get rid of for so long.  The repressed anger that blows up against your children for something rather small.  That sense of defeat after the meeting that speaks about how things will never change...

Oh, those things can change.  And that’s precisely what God is after.  

While reading the Gospels I am amazed by the simplicity of Jesus invitation: "Follow me".  He didn't just say "believe me", or "believe in me".  Although that's important, obviously, it won't be enough if we really want the abundant life that He wants to offers us.

To "Follow Him" implies forward movement.  It implies constantly looking ahead to see where He is, what He is saying, what He is doing and how He is doing it.

No matter how exciting and fulfilling your life is at this time, or if you are struggling to make life work.  Maybe you have already lost heart and are living under the weight of resignation.

Wherever you are in life right now, there’s so much more available with God.  And no matter what your past experiences have taught you, there is something deep inside your heart that knows it.