Determination

Determination:  the act of deciding definitely and firmly; also : the result of such an act of decision (Webster's)

I have been reminded of who I am, now we make a determination (a decision) that I will not slow down, back up, lose sight, give up, and throw in the towel on what God is trying to do.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Proverbs 16:9)

Determination is like running a race.  You must begin strong and stay strong.  You must push through the difficulties in understanding the difficulties only last for a moment.  The fog lifts and sunshine forces its way through.  So it is with life.  So it is with our calling.  So it is with everything.

I despise a lot of cliché's, like:

when life gives you lemon's make lemonade
in storms of life learn to dance in the rain,
etc.

Doesn't that just make you want to say, "really?!?!" (especially if your having a bad day, bad month, or even a bad year); that is exactly the LAST thing you want to hear.

So how do we keep our determination?

It's all about surrounding yourself with people that will be the encourager's, those that will give you the words you need (and not the ones to make you role your eyes).  Those that will if nothing else just sit with you.  Those that will understand what you are going through.  They may not fully understand, but they make a good attempt to at least try to.

As always the most important thing you and I can do to help keep our determination is to make working on our relationship with God the most important thing.  If no one else on earth understands you, realize that God does.  He created you (psalm 139).  If He created you, then He knows you.  He knows everything about you.  If He knows everything about you, then He knows what it will take to keep your determination where it needs to be.  Communicate with Him, Spend time in prayer, spend time reading His word to you, and Spend time with Him.

Determination takes effort.
Determination takes work.
Determination takes time.

But Determination is worth every moment of effort, work, and time.

Have a great weekend, Chris