What is that thing that makes you run? Or shut down. Or rage. You know that feeling, when everything is going well and then it hits. And the rest of your day is in a landslide. It’s not you anymore in the drivers seat. It’s fight or flight mode or maybe lights out.
You may wake up and shake it off hours later, or a week. Reality has escaped you, you’ve been in a spin. Then you struggle to get back to normalcy.

It’s amazing how the enemy hits you. Those personalized self guided missiles made just for you. It knows just where those crack are. Those personal wounds that only you own. It steals our joy. Robs our vision. And leaves us doubting ourselves or cleaning up the mess we’ve made.

Didn’t we see it coming? Why do we never see it coming?

Why don’t we realize it’s an attack? How do we go blind so fast?

Life wasn’t meant to be a series of patterns or cycles… it was meant to be a journey. Are we stumbling towards glory or are we just walking in circles.

Keeping our heart central and our vision clear is what is important. If we lose that in the course of the day, we’re toast. If busyness blinds us what are we to do?

We can’t forget who we are. Our identity is central, if we lose that we’ve lost everything.

Do you know what continuity is? It’s defined as: something connecting to the whole or as I like to say it, “seeing God’s thumb print on your life.” I firmly believe that God speaks through his word, but also through situations in your life. There’s been some interesting thumb printing I’ve been hearing today. It involves courage and stepping forward boldly. Here’s what I’ve heard or read today:

“We spend too much time being careful and waiting. Are we being courageous?”- Mark Evans, president of Youth Dynamics (spoken during a meeting today)

“That was a bold move. It has some risky aspects to it, but it was a time when we made bold moves.” - from the documentary preview of In the Shadows of the Moon

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for the could see that they were ordinary men who had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.” - Acts 4:13 NLT

So how’s God speaking to you in your life? Where do you see the continuity? I journaled last week about me dealing with fear. It seems that God has an answer for me…

During my time in the backcountry, I had some solo time to pray, reflect and write in my journal. One of these times, I really felt the Lord leaning in on me and here is what came out of that time.

I’ve been living in fear for far too long. I try to play it safe, so I get things perfect. But for some reason, only mediocrity comes from doing this. What is it I fear? Failure mostly. I feel the eyes of the world watching me just waiting to see me fall. So in turn, I let fear get the best of me. It paralyzes me; keeps me complacent. Then I am reminded of Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do no be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Like Joshua, I’ve got a lot on my shoulders. But also like Joshua, I am not alone.