2022-02-07 21:07:30
The Pilgrims got knocked down. Over. And over. And over. They fled to Holland to practice their faith steadfastly. They studied intensively and extensively on how to do righteous government under God under a wonderfully brilliant and God-fearing pastor. They were bold. Strong. Courageous men and women and children. They were a people who knew the voice of God. They obeyed. And when the voyage time arrived, it was HARSH. Nothing like expected. They bled. They starved. They froze. They endured weeks at sea in vomits not their own. They were so sickly. Many died. Mothers died while laying over the bodies of their children whom survived! What sacrifice. What love. What courage. Born out of the “right things principles.” They had every reason to turn around. By reason, it made little to no sense. The Mayflower was “incapable” by vessel standard to cross the vast ocean expanse. They didn’t turn back. It was an insanely desperate thing to do. But they had tasted true Liberty and freedom in Christ, and it was worth more to them than the blasphemous alternative.
George Washington. Defeat. After defeat. After defeat. He had every reason to turn around. He’d really only ever known defeat on the battlefield. But he didn’t turn around. He had known his cause so deeply and intimately and knew the source of Liberty and obeyed God. He was desperate for ONE crucial Victory. He pressed onward and the deliverance of the Hessians in to the hands of Americans was a divine miracle at the Battle of Trenton, truly a story only God can write. I cannot recall the story without crying every time.
Each believer suffers loss after loss sometimes. But we don’t know how to quit when we have tasted Liberty. We know the alternative is not something we settle for. It only takes one strategic victory. At the right time. Done the right way. With the right and true Victor. The pattern of God is clear. Anything worth doing is not coming easily. Any thing worth doing will cost. But it is nothing compared to the cost that was paid for our redemption at Calvary. He alone could pay that debt.
Where is the sting of your fear? It’s been swallowed up in Victory over the grave! To press on is indeed a desperate thing to do, but we know that the victory is already won and we are indeed desperate to follow the Way, Truth, and Life. To turn back is not optional.
The common thread of the pilgrims, many of the founders, and of our biblical heroes...is that they knew the character of God. When the world crashed around them, they relied on the attributes of God to see them through.
The courage it takes to continue despite wave after wave after wave of seeming failure must have only come from Almighty God. But he led them even still to a place of assured victory. As a result, you partake of the harvest of their sacrifices. What a sweet gift by a Sovereign God to be alive in such times.
But these times demand something of the valiant pilgrim heart and trailblazing warrior mind that is in each of us even today. A burning we cannot escape from. A task set before us so great that we each are so stirred. What shall we do with the torch handed down?
Trust in the character of God. He has never failed. And his timing is everything.
115 viewsRebecca Chaney, 18:07
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