Sometimes we are defeated by discouragement. But the great hope of the gospel is that, while life lasts, none of us is a lost cause. Our defeats need not be final. Our failures need not be fatal. Real change for the better is always possible.
Our problem is not a lack of ability but an unwillingness to hear. As an old maxim puts it, “The truth is not always what we want to hear.” And even when the problem is a lack of ability, that lack of ability may be the result of neglect on our part.
Falling backward is a habit we all have. So we need more than an improvement in our moods — we need to get a fresh grip on our commitments every day. Significant spiritual progress comes from the frequent remaking of our promises to God.
We need to pay more attention to the yearnings that tug at us. That nagging feeling that there must be something more to life than we’ve experienced is an important clue to the meaning of life. Without God our desires will always be insatiable.
God never asks us to trust Him without evidence. If there is something spiritually that we need to accept His word for, He never asks for that acceptance without having offered a sufficient guarantee in the physical realm that His word is dependable.
Like the artist whose every brush stroke says something about the artist himself, God has left evidence of Himself in the things He has made. The tokens of God’s glory in this world are beckoning us to another world, one with a far greater glory.
Reaching forward means doing a little better with each day. If we take a moment at the end of the day to reflect on what we’ve done, it’s a wonderful feeling to know that the day was well spent. We’ve taken one or two steps in a good direction.
Whatever comes to pass in this world, we must not let it throw us into doubt or despair. The King is coming back, and it may be sooner rather than later. “Be patient,” James wrote. “Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
As for God, His victory over His foes is absolutely certain. But as for us, we’ve not yet made our final choice. “Be faithful until death” (Revelation 2:10) is not a command that can be put on autopilot, and right now is no time for negligence.
We are on our way to a place that can truly be called home. A “rest” awaits us, if we’re among the “people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). But we haven’t yet reached our rest, and until we do, we are sojourners — temporary residents in a country not our own.