Proverbs 24:16 , Hebrews 10:32-39 , Hebrews 12:1-3
Life is an almost heart-breaking combination of beauty, joy, and love, combined with evil, wretched suffering, and depravity. As leaders, we are called to go into this world and, through the power of God, change it and show others there is a hope beyond the suffering and evil. But leading change, or “challenging the process,” is no easy task. There is a hardiness that is required of anyone who would seek to grow in Christ, much less change the world. Personal failings are not easily overcome, and structures of injustice and even incompetence do not fall over with merely a gentle push.
To ultimately succeed is not to be afraid of falling down . . . again and again. The only way we can do that is to realize that our hope is not in ourselves but in Christ. A righteous man falls seven times and keeps getting back up because he knows that in the end, even in the midst of his own weaknesses and shortcomings, God is still faithful. The journey is but a short one in the grand scheme of eternity, and the God of justice and love, who was faithful enough to send his own Son, will indeed have the final say in every situation.
- What have been the most discouraging moments in your life?
- In those moments, how have you let the Enemy spread lies of hopelessness and defeat versus trusting God despite how the circumstances might look?
- Can there be a joy in the fight? Joy that comes with regrouping after discouraging moments and getting back up and into the fight? If so, what has that looked like in your life?
- In your greatest moments of defeat and failure, to what extent were you putting your hope in yourself versus the power of Christ within you?
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