Do You Know Where You're Going?

    Photo ©Mark Faulkner 2010

As I reflect on this past year over my steaming cup of coffee, I can't help but be overwhelmed by God's goodness and faithfulness to us.

Oh sure, there have been some very hard times. 

I lost my job back in September and am still searching for a new one. Finances are really tight right now, and we've had to make some big adjustments.  I've had some health issues that are troubling me. The economic outlook is certainly not very encouraging.  Today, the world is a very shaky place.  World peace?

Who knows what's going to happen?

But one thing I do know, and that is, I know where I'm going. 

For those who have chosen to follow Jesus and trust in Him as the Savior, our hope and future is absolutely secured. 

As I look back on my life, on all my many failures, on all the stupid things I've done and the many poor choices I have made—the fact is, I shouldn't even be here today.  I should be dead, in prison, or at best, living under a bridge somewhere.

But God stepped into my world and revealed Himself to me when I was running the opposite direction. He met me where I was and intervened when I was on a path of self-destruction.

Thank You Lord for saving me.

It's amazing because this new life in Christ is not just a bunch of religious talk.  It's not just some lifeless words in a dusty old black book.  It's real.  God is alive, He's present, and He is working and moving in our hearts, in our life and in our relationships. 

And it's that absolute hope through Christ that keeps us going.  When I look back on all the very difficult times and obstacles I have had to go through, I know by real experience that God helped me to get through them.  And many times I didn't think I was going to make it.  Many times I certainly didn't feel like I wanted to continue.

But here we are—"still sucking air" as a brother often reminds us. 

Think about how a diamond is formed.   It takes many years of intense pressure and heat for the minerals and substances that make up a diamond to become the sparkling finished product.  Without that intense heat, pressure and expanse of time, a diamond could not exist.

That's how it is in the life of a believer. 

Until we meet Christ face-to-face, we're a diamond in the rough.  We're in that process of being formed and shaped—by intense heat, pressure and time.  And we can't become who we are ultimately made to be without it.  A refiner produces gold from raw material.  He then begins the lengthy process of purification by using intense heat.  As he turns up the heat, the impurities—or dross—rise to the surface where he can sift them off.  Eventually, the gold becomes so pure, the refiner can see his own reflection in the molten, liquid gold.

Without God refining us in the heat of life's fiery trials, we will never become the pure gold He desires. 

So, I am thankful for the fiery trials of 2010.  Truth be told...part of me hopes 2011 is easier and cooler than 2010.  But somehow, I don't see that happening.  *smile*

But I know that our God, who is faithful, will bring us through this new year, no matter what is in store. And we have been given the perseverance, character, experience and hope to prove it.  We made it through this far, and we know that we can make it through whatever comes next.

Paul writes in Romans 5:1-5

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Do you have peace with God?

It is only available through Jesus Christ, and having a personal relationship with Him.

Our hearts and lives have absolutely been changed by Christ.  And it was something that we couldn't do for ourselves.  We tried for years, but failed and only made things worse.

But we now have true peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We know where we are going. And that is why we have absolute hope in Christ.  Hope that is unshakable.  Hope that we have experienced.

What path are you on right now in your life?

If you're like most people, you quite likely have reached a fork in the road and it's time to make a decision as to which direction you will go.

Do you know where you're going?

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.