This ThinkSpace is a special milestone. I say milestone because it isn’t the finish line. Life keeps moving forward one day at a time toward eternity. It began for each of us when we were given life by God before we were even born. It was His first gift to us.
100 weeks ago, I began writing because I needed to. I had big issues to sort through like all of us do. I had real decisions to make at forks in the road about faith or fear, trust or doubt. I also looked at our culture and world events and asked myself whether I would be a passive observer – or an active part of healthier change. With the one voice I’ve been given, I stepped out of my comfort zone hoping to use it to inspire anyone who would listen. An ongoing invitation to join me to think honestly, grow a better life with God, and reset higher.
Every time I wrote, the word choice came into the spotlight over and over again. I couldn’t ignore it. It was like a golden light shining on a key. When I used it to make a better decision, it unlocked the right door and then others, one after another. I found more of what I needed for a better life: peace, freedom, true health, purpose, contentment… As I followed God, He kept leading me to deeper places in my heart, soul, and understanding.
Notice I didn’t say my life became perfect. In fact, there’s a plot twist that just happened within the last few months. Remember the first ThinkSpace titled Trust? It was the catalyst that “made me” start writing in the first place, the day before my first radiation treatment after surgery for stage one breast cancer. I could never have imagined that the other “bookend” to this project two years later would be that a super small, ¼” tumor under my scar would grow, be malignant, and my “factory parts” would go from two to one after another surgery. I made the choice to have faith in God over fear the first time and kept choosing His promises and truly trusting Him. None of it was fun or easy to go through, but it caused me to see life more clearly. If I had to pick one word to sum up these past two years, it would be this:
Stronger.
We will all face challenges in our lifetime on Earth and yours will be different from mine. But what we do have in common is the choice to learn from them, gain perspective, and do more of the best things we can with what we’ve been given – because it adds up over time. On the other hand, if we choose fear, we’ll have more fear. If we “self-medicate”, we’Il add even more problems to the ones we already have. If we choose God’s truth and wisdom instead, I picture how exercising our bodies builds muscle, strengthens our core, helps our balance, and gives us endurance. We become healthier from the inside out!
The ThinkSpace titled Growth Rings is another example. Like a tree, each of us adds one more “ring” to our life every year – in our inner being. Some years are healthier than others in different ways, but even in seasons of drought we’re still alive and growing! If a serious challenge doesn’t get easier, we’ll get even stronger – with God’s supernatural strength. This truth is timeless and for the ages, written hundreds of years ago in Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NLT):
“This is what the Lord says, ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.’”
If you’ve been reading these ThinkSpaces over time, you’ve learned about the contrast of living life as a “stunted shrub in the desert with no hope for the future” vs. living an evergreen, blessed life with hope and confidence in the Lord. Each time we’ve thought about life’s choices together we’ve held them up to the light of God’s Word, the Bible. I couldn’t have been honest – or have a reason – to write about any of these things unless I’d lived through them myself and found real truth to share. Jesus Himself said this in John 16:33 (NIV):
“I have told you these things, so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
So be encouraged! Hope is alive and well! There’s an endless supply of love! All your sins can be forgiven through faith in Jesus! You can have eternal life in Heaven – this life is just the prelude! Nothing is too hard for God! Through Him all things are possible! Keep reading the Bible yourself and claim all the gold nuggets of truth and promises waiting for you – yes YOU!
There’s no better way to wrap up than with these words written for all believers from the ultimate ThinkSpace, the Holy Bible:
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT)
“Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will go down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Amen!
RESET HIGHER: You have the key now. How will you use it?
