Not to the swift

Its June already! Incredible isn’t it? It has certainly been a busy and rather fast-paced year. As I say this I acknowledge that it is a privilege and testimonial to the grace, provision, and empowerment of God upon my life. I mean, just think about it. There are millions of people world over for whom the year has dragged on, and inordinately so at that. For those people in the thick of poverty, sickness, and disease; for those people who are trapped in abusive relationships; for those people who have found themselves as victims of human trafficking; for those who have no jobs, etc... for these and many other groups of people, it would undoubtedly have been a long drawn out year so far. If like me however, it seems to you that the months have simply flown by, then my sister let the praise of God our Father not depart from your lips because through the good and the bad, there are millions of people who would swap their lives for yours and mine at the drop of a hat.

June is of course a very significant month for me. My first son turned seventeen, and his birthday also marked nineteen years to the day, that we opened our doors for business. As I reflect on the life of my son and the progress of our business over the years, all I can say is that God has indeed been faithful. It could all have been so very different but for the mercies of God. June is also for me, a good time to do some serious stock-taking of my life. It is a time to question how the earlier part of the year has played out, as well as give some serious thought to and re-alignment of my vision for self in the course of the rest of the year.  

I started this year with a clear commitment to myself and an encouragement to you, not to allow any form of overwhelm in my life. I believe by God’s grace that I have held largely true to this in the past months. Truth be told though, the past few weeks and up till today have been particularly trying. I have held on tenaciously to every vestige of internal peace that I have been able to muster, even as a whole lot of pressure and responsibilities have continued to pile up. I have maintained stability by very simply looking upwards, drawing strength from, and trusting God to work things for my good. Every day, I have reminded myself that in my weakness, He is my strength; that in Him I am well able. I have stayed in prayer and found refreshing in worship. The Lord is my Helper! No truer phrase have I known than this, out of my experiences in the past few weeks.

I had started to write this post as I headed to work on Monday morning but found myself trying to figure if this was really the message the Lord would have me share with you this time. But I got a word yesterday which convinced me that someone out there needs to hear this. God spoke a reminder to that the race is not to the swift. He reminded me that it is truly not of him who wills, or he who runs; but it is of the Lord’s mercy and grace. God reminded me that He alone is the One that brings promotion, that causes us to be distinguished, that gives the power to get wealth, that lifts us up, that causes us to prosper. He reminded me that He alone is able to bless our bread and our water, to cause us to be fruitful, to cause us to be victorious. He alone is the source of our witty ideas, the source of our wisdom and intellect, the One who provides the resources that we need to achieve. He is the One Who keeps us healthy enough to do the things we do, the One Who puts dreams in our hearts, Who gives us songs in the night. He is the One Who is the source of our discernment, the One Who leads and guides us into all understanding that we need to excel.

Yes sis, as the Lord spoke these things to my spirit I received clarity that you and I need to be reminded that we are not in competition with anyone else, that we must each run our own race looking ahead and upward unto the Lord. I read somewhere that you can’t run a race looking sideways and this is so true. Focusing on what everyone else is being/doing/achieving in comparison to ourselves is akin to running forward while looking sideways, and you and I already know that is a recipe for going off-track, more likely than not also derailing others who are trying to run their own race alongside us. The beauty of running a heavenly race is that there is a first prize for every winner, a crown of glory. It is not a struggle to cross the finish line and best the other persons. No, our heavenly race is simply an individual race for your own prize. That kind of puts a very different slant on our all wishful thinking's, quiet envies and comparisons, don’t you think?

It came to my spirit that we are certainly not in a race with ourselves either. I was reminded about the mind map which I had drawn for my 2013 within the last week of December 2012, and which I printed and pasted, and look at as often as possible to see how I am progressing in my plans. As I thought about it, the Lord reminded me that there are many plans in a man’s heart, but it is the purpose of the Lord that shall stand. This was a reaffirmation to me that more than anything else, beyond reviewing all the planning, strategizing and goal-setting/resolution-making that we might have done at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013, the most important stock-taking that you and I need to do now sis, is to assess how obedient we have been to the leading of the Lord for our lives from January to date. We need to test our level of obedience to the things that He has spoken to us, particularly those things that seem not to line up with our many mind maps, vision boards, and whatever other forms we captured our aspirations for the year in.

God is reminding you and I sis that the race is not to the swift. Those who will win are those who stay open to receive from the Lord, to hear from Him, to be obedient to His instructions, to serve where He assigns us, to let go of the projects He asks us to and to undertake those ones that He asks us to. The One Who loves us more than we can ever love ourselves is calling us to come up higher in Him sis. At the end of this year, our fulfillment will not come out of the many targets we set for ourselves and which we achieved. You and I know by now just how empty certain victories can be. Rather, our fulfillment at the end of 2013 will come from a clear understanding that we yielded to His direction and promptings, that we walked according to His counsel, that we fulfilled His mandates and assignments, and that we walked in obedience to His revealed will for our lives.

Let me encourage to prayerfully to go to God once again today sis. Ask Him to show you, ask Him to counsel you, ask Him to guide you into those things that fit into His purpose for this year. Ask the Lord to redirect your steps if you have moved forward in your own strength in any way. Ask Him to reveal to you every plan you have made, every objective you have so far chased but which does not align with His will. Ask Him to show you every ‘good’ work you are currently doing which in His eyes amount to ‘dead’ works because He did not send you. Ask for clarity sis, that in the rest of the year your race will be truly according to His purpose and for His glory.

These are my prayers sis, for you and for me. I know that the One Who is more than able to give us the desires of our heart, Who is able to bring to pass all that we ask in His name and according to His will… He will surely help you sis as you run your own race sis. He will help me!

Be blessed sis….. For you surely are!