Sunday Rockin Chair Thoughts pt9

Adversity will either de-rail you and slow you down … discourage you and cause you to give up, give in, compromise and quit … or it will fortify your resolve and drive you closer to your call and purpose. If we learn from mistakes we come back smarter and more determined than before. Mistakes are sometimes misinterpretations of the truth. If our motives are pure we can easily see the lesson in our mistakes and move on. Some people use mistakes as an excuse to stay in the rut while others become more focused and more centered with better strategies. We should not only overcome adversity but come back with stronger fire power and more accurate aim and a more mature attitude and that separates winners and losers … leaders and followers. Mistakes sometimes cause failure but I believe there are areas in our life where we’re not supposed to succeed. Success in one area of our life may steer us away from our true destiny. If I had succeeded in Sports I would never have picked up a guitar; never written a song. Jesus turned stones into bread and water into wine. He could have had the most successful Bread & Wine franchise in history; but that wasn’t His destiny. His destiny was the cross. He stayed focused and didn’t allow successes along the way to distract from His mission. There’s no in-between; we constantly move either forward or backward. There’s no such thing as “standing still while we make up our minds”. Standing still is equal to moving backward and that means losing ground. If we choose to stand still the “rip-current” of adversity will sweep us away. As long as we’re “in motion” we can stay one step ahead of adversity.

Adversity is at work 24/7 with a focused agenda. Adversity gained control in the Garden of Eden; adversity lost control when Jesus said, “it is finished.” Now there’s no excuse for failure. No longer do we have to live “under the circumstances.” Matthew 28: 18. The truth is; failure has to have permission to take place in our lives! We either succeed or we fail to succeed but we do have a choice and the choice is ours alone to make. We make choices to win or lose … minute by minute … every minute of every day. If you’re given to the notion that “some days you eat the bear and some days the bear eats you” … then you’re not walking in love and faith will not work effectively because you’ve created a back door “just in case things don’t work” out the way you had hoped. You’re trying to get something for nothing; you’re letting “pride and fear” keep you moored to the dock and if your ship never sails - your ship will never come in. You’ll never experience the joy of sailing through the adventures this lifetime has to offer and you’ll never pull into the port o’ call where there are people waiting for you. Destinies are tied to your destiny - people who need your gift. Good or bad; every action and inaction is a seed sown and we most definitely reap what we sow.

Adversity is “the breakfast of champions”! We need to get off our apathy. We need to get our eye’s off of ourselves and help make someone else’s dream come true because whatever we make happen in someone else’s life, God will make happen in our own. We are the sum total of every decision we’ve made in our life. The “wise man” built his house on a rock and the “foolish” man built his house on the sand. What makes the wise man so wise? It’s because he expected the storms of life. He knew trouble would challenge him, but his foundation was solid and the house he built on that solid foundation could weather the storms. The “foolish man” said, “well, that’s just life; ain’t nuthin’ you’kin do about it” … “whatever” and his house was destroyed in the storm! Wise choices come with age, experience and determination and that’s why there are no “young” wise men - only “old” wise men!

There IS a dream in your heart … God put it there. It may be buried underneath years of heartache and pain, doubt, fear and unbelief but it IS there. I challenge you to define it, see it, and make it come true. When we were kids we had no problem dreaming … all day long. A “dream” is that thing in our life we want bad enough that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen; willing to CHANGE. It takes discipline, courage, resilience, faith and hope and they all have to come from you … from your spirit, soul and body. When God brings you to it, He’ll see you through it but the choice to stay on course, run the race and cross the finish line comes from you and when your dream does come true … you’ll have the necessary character that it takes to keep it and no one will be able to steal it. Don’t listen to the “nay Sayers” and remember, “The critics don’t count.” Problems are a given. We know the problems are there but I say, “Flush’em.” Problems may come in the form of friends, loved one’s, enemies, family or your own deeds but don’t allow problems to stand in the way of your success because, remember, you’re on a mission and someone needs the gift you have for them. Don’t tell God how big your problems are; tell your problems how big your God is!