Anyway, as we drove we were surrounded by (you guessed it) lush groves of trees and sparkling lakes and ponds. Beautiful scenery! However, as we got closer to what GPS was leading us to, the landscape turned into dead, abandoned farmland complete with decrepit houses and an eerie absence of life: no people driving cars, no animals scurrying away and no trees or plants! This void of everything was screaming DEAD! GO BACK! SAVE YOURSELVES!
We had never been there before, but it didn't look right! We checked and rechecked GPS thinking we'd made a mistake, but our dot of a minivan was still obediently following the happy little blue trail. The Google Maps Lady wasn't yelling at us, either (she can be SO BOSSY!). We were right on track...to the Bates Motel, apparently. We're talking desolation and despair!
Just about the time the pack of timberwolves would have been cued to break into our minivan and systematically hunt us down in the frozen tundra had this been a movie (sorry, couldn't resist) we turned a corner and saw that we were overlooking a valley in which was nestled our long-awaited vacation spot! Just moments before we were sure Google Maps was on crack, but now we were mouth agape staring at our destination! Just moments before we were ready to give up and turn around, back to civilization, but now we saw our campground! Which was not just any campground but a resort including a golf course, hiking trails, basketball court, swimming pool, and a trout stream running right through it, and our cabin that turned out to be a spacious lodge, all surrounded by limestone which, dear friends, KEEPS MOSQUITOES AWAY! Even at dusk! Even in the bushes! (If you happen to be in the bushes at dusk...for some reason...?) Kinda crazy, right?! One minute we think we're completely lost and the next minute we're overlooking a gorgeous resort that was even better than we'd imagined. It's incredible what the turn of a corner can bring!
When you've never been there before, it's hard to tell if you're getting close to your destination. When you're trying to fix a relationship, you usually have to weather some fights before there's unity. When you're trying to get your finances on track, it's usually because your bank account is dying a slow, painful death. When you're chasing a promising career, your friends and family may feel neglected before you realize you need to realign your life's balance. When you've been publicly humiliated by your child's behavior, you have to be a little more consistent with discipline at home before the world, too, can see the greatness in that kid. But if you've never been there before, it's hard to tell if you're on track to EVER get there! If you've never observed the difficulties that are required to reach a breakthrough, you may not realize just how close you really are to that breakthrough!
Your scenery may look like desolation and despair, but maybe it's because you're about to turn a corner!
It may take some strength, more than you thought you had, but don't give up! You may feel like you just can't take it, but don't quit! You don't know what's just ahead! You don't know what God's up to behind the scenes! You don't know everything that's being orchestrated to arrive right on time even better than you'd planned! Maybe it's taken more blood, sweat and tears than you had anticipated, but the end results will have you staring mouth agape at the amazing success your story has turned into!
"Most people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure" is a great reminder from Napoleon Hill. Maybe everything around you looks dead and abandoned. Maybe you're thinking of heading back to civilization. Maybe your friends and family have labeled you crazy to even keep trying, but sometimes you just have to figure that if you've gone this far, what's another hour, day, month or year... This is when you benefit from your vice: stubbornness! Dig in! Expect the best! Refuse to listen to reason: refuse to know the meaning of the word "quit". Think of your future self--the one who's overcame this obstacle--what advice would your future you give the present you? Do that and live without regrets!
Do you see what this means — all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running — and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. 3 When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message
As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. 11 We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul — not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, 12 thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. Colossians 1:10-12 The Message
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