As my son and I watched Apollo stand at the line poised to skate to the finish line, we listened to the announcer say very strangely, "Ready. Go". Now, in our own unique style this is our newest saying around the house. (I know, a mother and son, what can you say)I am learning to let go of all around me, and hold on to Jesus. In letting go of the things around me, I am letting the Lord. He has taught me there is nothing to be gained by my "Holding on to control"(a control that I only think I have).
Its scary sometimes standing there at that starting line isn't it? Listening for the "Go" and hoping you make it through to the finish line can get the best of us if we are placing all our hope in our own slippery selves. It is when we place that hope in Jesus Christ that gets our feet planted firmly, and sets us on our way. It is in Him that we not only make it to the finish line, but we make it with grace.
We might not think there is a great amount of grace in falling, but the grace does not come in the fall, but within the getting up. It is that hand that reaches out, that helps us up that is the perfect picture of grace.
We are going to fall, and sometimes those falls are going to hurt as we hit bottom, but once there the climb back up will bring us to the place where Christ is calling. I have learned that in my falls He is there, and as hard as I seem to think I am falling, He is still there grasping for my hand, reaching out, and giving me cushion in my fall. It is His grace that covers me, and protects me.
Often we find ourselves ready with no place to go. Ever been there? I am watching my husband stand there at that gate right now as he is waiting for a job. It has been a long time since he left for work and is so eager to get right back out there. He is at that starting line waiting for the announcer to say, "Go". In those moments of waiting, in those months of preparing, and those years of prayer God is still moving even in our stillness. Just hold on tight, cause in the moment of "Go", through all that prayer and preparation you will be ready to take off.
Now, on the other side of that coin, ever heard "Go" and your not ready? I too have been there for that one. Hearing God call me, and I am not prepared, I am not prayed up, and therefore when "Go" comes I am standing there in my shoes afraid to move.
So, what is the point I am making. Pray. Prepare. Seek. Listen. Move. In the midst of your waiting, get that giddy up ready to shoot out of here. In the midst of moving, stand tall with your head held high knowing God is right there leading you!
Don't give up when things get hard. Don't give in to those voices in your head telling you to quit. When failure seems to knock us down, just hold on, and God will set us free.
I am sure when Apollo is standing there waiting, prepared for that "Go" he is still nervous, and still finds excitement in what is to come. We never know what is around that corner, or when we may fall, but we can be assured that in our race, God is right there with His shoes on, taking each pace and each pass with us. We have nothing to fear with Him at our side.
Be ready, because He is going to call you. Dig your heals into His word. Steady yourself in His grace. Listen for His call with your heart open and ready to "Go".
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured teh cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize in temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperichable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
