Friday, December 1, 2017

What if you can't see it? Faith beyond sight...

More..

If we were to compare success to an EKG machine, a straight line would equal death. Just as the machine’s constant beeps and peaks let us know we are living, the great mountain tops and deep valley lows let us know that life is happening and we must keep living.

In Psalm 121 we find the psalm of ascents or the song of degrees. That basically means it is a gradual psalm. 

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)

David is in a hole similar to the ruts that many of us unfortunately experience. While there, David speaks of “looking to hills” but you must understand his context. David speaks of seeking help/hope in a place that was physically and spiritually beyond him. David knew that although he could not actually see his refuge he was certain that it was available to drastically alter his location as well as his outlook - and he had access.

Our church youth group punctuated this message with an activity. I asked one of the teens to take a sticky note and place it as high as he could on one of our room’s walls. Being a decent basketball player, the teen bent his knees, leapt as high as he could and adhered the sticky note to the wall.

I continued teaching.

1. To go there you must start here. 
Before you can cross the finish line you have to leave the starting line. It’s not enough to have great dreams, good intentions, and wonderful ideas. You must put action to those items if you ever want to see their reality. Rarely does anyone choose to dwell in despair. David wanted desperately out of his current state so he decided to move. Have you made any moves?

2. To get there you must believe you will arrive there.
Although there are times that the road is foggy we must be clear that Jesus has given us a destination and road indicators. Even if the road is hard to see - your faith in the future will lead you beyond your lack of visibility. 

3. To go there you must trust who is guiding you on the way there
Have you ever driven your car to the point that the fuel indicator arm was resting on E. Even though the indicator displays empty, the vehicle is still moving. It is because the vehicle has more built into it when the display says there is none. The “more” that is in you Is the divine intervention that pushes you beyond your own capacity. If you can trust your car to travel beyond the “E” display - it is obvious that you can and should trust your Heavenly Father to kick in and stretch you beyond your empty feeling.

Are you feeling empty right now? Have you traveled as far as you feel is physically possible? Trust me, there is more. You can go further!

I closed my message with our youth group by asking my sticky note participant if he really placed that note as high as he could go. He said, “No” then grabbed a chair and jumped again. He went higher!


#AimHigher #ThereIsMore

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