Read 1 Peter 4:12–19
‘If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.’ (vv15–16)
Change requires choices, which then present challenges. Here we face the reality of sacrifice in time and energy to press on with everyday life.
Most startup businesses are undercapitalised. The product is good and viable but cashflow runs out before sufficient revenue is secured for survival and profitability.
These challenges create daily instability and must be acknowledged and endured.
Our focus must be upon the opportunity, not the problem. We’re most often defeated not by our circumstances, but the negative mindset a problem creates.
If we’re unconvinced, nobody else will be convinced. In any challenge I must fight to find and maintain a positive mindset, to go in search of the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
This involves imagining what success might look like and taking incremental steps towards this imagined future.
I only bite off what I can swallow. It’s worth noting that no mountain would have been conquered or any planes fly in the sky if humanity remained defined by its perception of reality.
We can, with God’s help, rise to meet every challenge and overcome it. We’re tempted to quit so that pain and struggle might evaporate, and in some ways they will.
Yet, I’d rather fail fighting than surrender. We all know the saying, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’.
This is the Christian walk. It is not one giant stride, but a series of small but consistent steps. With these we can press through every challenge always knowing God.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
Ps. 18:25–36; Ez. 22:6–31; 1 Cor. 13:4–13; Col. 1:9–14
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
Do you need to find the resolve to continue in obediently serving God in the face of what appear insurmountable challenges? What steps might you take?
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, help me to look to You for the resolve I need
to leap over the walls that confront me. Amen.’
From Wikimedia Commons
