Choose your path and don't look back

Hebrews 12:1-2, 5-7, 10-13 - Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author & perfector of our faith....Do not make light of the Lord's discipline & do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.....Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as (sons) daughters....God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness & peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms & weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

When you get ready for your run, you first have to choose your course...choose the direction you will run.....map it out. You may even use a tool to map out your run, like this one - http://www.mapmyrun.com/

You lay out all of your gear, water-bottles, gatoraide and then you choose to lace up your shoes, stretch and then run! As you are running you choose to keep running, not to quit; choosing to endure to finish your course.

You can choose to run alone, with a partner or in a group. All of these choices determine your success as a runner. Who you run with can encourage you to run your race or they can hinder your race.

So much of life is like a race/ a course we run and we are given choices every day. We daily choose the attitude we will have, the direction we take for this day, how we will respond to the twists and turns of this day. We choose how we will communicate to those we love, those who irritate us and people that God brings across our path....we daily choose!
Our lives do not always run smooth but regardless of what happens, God is still working in it. When I choose to look to him.....fix my eyes on the author & perfector of my faith, I will find strength for the hard things, patience in the daily things & joy in all things. To believe in the core of who I am that I am in good hands.....God is good and He can be trusted! It is my choice in how I respond and where I choose to focus.

All of us have a path, a race, a route mapped out for us. God wants us to run it, live in it, with perseverance and to trust Him every step of the way. Trust that there is a bigger picture in life, He has a plan, He is always working behind the scenes in your life and He sees the bigger picture, so trust Him.

Today, make a choice to make a level path for your feet as you run the race that He has marked out for you; clear the path, make it level, by focusing your eyes and attention on Jesus.

Choose to run....lace up your shoes, stretch it out, and then run. No looking back because you cannot run the race while looking behind you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 - Be joyful always; pray continually.

My prayer for you & for me today.....Father, I am weak & yes, sometimes emotionally feeble. I need You every hour. Strengthen me according to your Word. Change me & renew me from the inside out. Give me the courage to fix my attention on the bigger picture, the greater good, & on YOU. Fill me with anticipation for what You want to do in & through my life. Make me spiritually savvy to walk around the traps set for me by the enemy. May I turn my back on fear and embrace faith instead. When I get knocked down, help me to get back up again, wipe off the dirt, clear my path & fix my eyes on You. May the destiny You've appointed for me be forever in my view. I want to be a woman who rises up out of the ashes and does something beautiful with her life. Jesus, I want to be conformed to your image. Give me the grace to endure whatever it is that is taking me there. Do your work in me, Lord.