We only have two days left in our HabitFast Journey and I don’t know about you, but whenever I am trying to change and improve there seems to be an increase in obstacles thrown my way. Â Sometimes these obstacles set me back to a point where I’m scratching my head and asking myself, “why do I even try?”
The times where my setbacks seem to totally impede my growth are times I refer to as “desert days.” Â These are times in our lives, just like the day between Good Friday and Easter 2000 years ago, where we are asking ourselves “what in the heck just happened?”
No matter what we are trying to change and improve in our lives, there will be “desert days.” Â Those are times we sit in limbo and begin second-guessing. Â Sometimes the “desert days” become paralyzing.
Days we wonder why we are doing what we are doing.
Days we wonder whether or not what we are doing is worth doing.
Days we wonder if loving our neighbor means we need to love those we don’t like.
Days we wonder if forgiving others is truly the only way to be forgiven by God.
Days we wonder if Jesus is real or just some myth.
These are days where our soul thirsts for the truth and the thirst for truth is something we all must deal with. Â How we quench our thirst for truth during our “desert days,” will determine the path our lives take.
I have to think on the day after Jesus was crucified, the devil was having a huge victory celebration while those who were Jesus followers were in a state of shock having no idea what had just happened…they probably felt as though they were lost in the desert.
I view the day between Good Friday (darkness) and Easter (light) as the most defining desert day in the history of mankind.
The bottom line is this–for those of us who trust in a power greater than ourselves for the strength and courage to do the next right thing, one day at a time–we are going to have desert days–we are a lot more human than we sometimes give ourselves credit for being…or maybe it’s just me.
Personally, I believe the three days of Easter weekend represent cycles in our lives most of us encounter when we are following Jesus. Â
On Friday the world kicks us in the mouth and tells us we are a fraud. Â On Saturday we begin thinking maybe the world is right and we are wrong, but we remember the progress we’ve made while following Jesus and we somehow muster up the courage to get on our knees and turn our worldly problems over to Him. Â Then by Sunday we are back on our feet believing in ourselves and most importantly believing Jesus came so we could live, but not just live, but to live in abundance and spread the good news to others through our willingness to share how He delivered us from the dark and ALWAYS quenches us when we are thirsty AND we do this BOLDLY regardless of what the world is saying and regardless of what is going on in the world around us. Â Can you relate?
Just like light cannot be appreciated without darkness; our own personal resurrection cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing what we are without Jesus. Â I usually figure that out during my desert days.
What is so amazing is as we progress on our Jesus journey, we find ourselves spending a lot less time in the desert because we are so focused on the resurrection we don’t even flinch when the world kicks us in the mouth.
Don’t EVER give up, the BEST is ALWAYS yet to come…I AM CERTAIN OF THAT!
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
John 3:16-18, “This is how much God loved the world: Â He gave his Son, his one and only Son. Â And this is why: Â so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. Â God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. Â He came to help, to put the world right again. Â Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. Â And why? Â Because of that person’s failure to believe in the-one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.” Â (MSG)
