You're Not Here to Feel Sorry for Yourself

One of the other cornerstone scriptures of my life is Phil 3:12b.NKJV


Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.


When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He "lays hold" of us.  He calls us to His work.  As we begin our walk, He brings us along a path that is designed to 'perfect' or mature our 'calling.'  More often than not, this path could be akin to 'boot camp' for a soldier, which in essence we are.  


Ah, boot camp, I remember it well.  I will tell on myself to illustrate my point.  Those of you who have never been to boot camp in any branch of the service will think I am nuts.  Just ask someone who has been and they could probably confirm what I was thinking.  In the Air Force, the basic training was for six weeks. The sergeant was yelling, regulations for everything and pandemonium was the rule of the day.  It was all so mind-boggling that I was in my third week of training when it dawned on me, "Hey, I only have three more weeks of this harassment and then this confusion will be over." I instantly relaxed and just endured with the happy thought of being finished in a short while.


The situations that Jesus leads us through are often that way.  Our mind gets boggled with the frustration of it all.  We tend to zone out that He is the 'finisher' of our faith and that this problem WILL end.


On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed through Jericho.  His mind was on the pain and suffering that He knew awaited Him.  However, He was not so preoccupied with His anguish that He couldn't hear the blind man calling after Him as He passed by.  Jesus took time to bless, minister and bring joy to another life.  He was not passing through Jericho to feel sorry for Himself.  He was on a divine appointment to do what God had 'laid hold of Him for.'


There are divine appointments for us today, also.  Let's not get distracted by our 'boot camp' that we miss an opportunity with our loved ones or those we 'pass by' to be the blessing that God has 'laid hold of us' for.