Rise Up And Get Going

My Utmost For His Highest

 

‘Rise, let us be going’ —Matthew 26:46

 

‘In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, “Well, it’s all over and ruined now; what’s the point in trying anymore.” If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificent opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. […] There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have times of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be unable to lift ourselves out of them. [...] If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption. Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.’ CHAMBERS

 

We have all fallen short of the glory of God.  That is not an excuse for sin, but it is the reason for it. That is why the cross was necessary.  I think that all of us will have regrets in our lives.  And, very often, the consequences of our sins cling to us as a constant reminder that we missed the mark, perhaps many times in our past.  That would leave us in a pathetic place if it were not for God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness through Jesus.

 

When someone loses a leg or is crippled somehow, they have a choice … they can live in despair or they can press on in life … and live for God’s glory in spite of their physical limitations.  So it is with us and past failures.  Consider the many in the Bible who lived with the consequences of their sin, but went on to serve God in a mighty way.  A friend of ours says that “God can hit straight with a crooked stick”, meaning that we don’t have to have a perfect past to be used by God.  Now the man who lost the leg may not be able to run a marathon, but there are many, many things he can do.  And so it is with us.  God wants to use you for His purposes … so as Paul said … “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: 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)

 

So let us rise up and get going.

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)