joshinreallife.com

I think we all have times in our lives that we can look back on and see that we really were ‘All-In’ in every area of life.

Work. Family. Personal. Emotional. Spiritual. Everything. All-In.

It’s not easy.  In fact, a lot of times we just want to give up (Perry Noble has a great post on this)

But I think that at the end of the day, it’s all a matter of perspective.  Most of us grew up idolizing some person or character, some hero or heroine, dreaming of being in their shoes one day, ready to do the dirty work of being a real-life legend.

William Wallace, Rudy Ruettiger, Michael Jordan – all of them we’ve wanted to be in one way or another.

But sometimes I think we get exactly what we’re asking for, and we don’t recognize it.

The odds are completely against us.  We’re left with an impossible shot or situation.  Everything around us is telling us to throw in the towel, that we’ve done enough, that it’s time to quit.

This is our hero moment…

They don’t look the way we remember them in the movies, but in all honesty, our heroes probably didn’t look at their moments that way either.  It’s been on my heart lately, and I just need to say, wherever you are, if you’re at the end of your rope, against all odds, and seemingly left with no one in your corner… don’t quit…

As 1 Corinthians 15:58 says “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

You’re work, where you are, and how you press through this, are the hero stories for the next generation, and for those living around you.  Realize you’re in your hero moment now.  Let that motivate you to get through, to BREAK THROUGH.  Who knows, maybe we’ll be reading about your story soon.

Life goes in seasons for me, and probably for a lot of us.  It’s definitely easier for me to see those seasons as I’m passing out of one into another, my hindsight is a lot better than my foresight.

One cool thing I’ve seen recently is that I am leaving a season self-pity and stagnation and entering a season of learning and stretching.  It’s funny, I have so much trouble doing what I want t0/should do, but once I do it, it’s exactly what I needed.  Life is coming at me from all directions right now and faster than I can comprehend at times, but I’m drinking it all in, and I thank God and some awesome friends for that.

You may have heard of Brett Crimmel, our lead pastor at Forefront where I work.  I gotta tell you, he’s one of those guys that’s really there for you.  You know, the kind of ‘there-for-you’ that says the hard/uncomfortable things when it’d be a lot easier just to ‘love’ your friend as they struggle through stuff.  That kind of there-for-you.  I’ll be sure to share some of the insight I gain from him and so many others out here in beautiful Denver, but for now I’ll leave you with this:

“We don’t need fresh understanding, we need fresh obedience” – Brett