Same. Still. Strong.Sample

Done Deal; SAME Direction.

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” – Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT)

Have you ever longed for a new season? A new beginning? How would you handle it if things in your life changed – for better or worse?

Elisha was a farmer. He faithfully worked the land and literally knew what it meant to put his hand to the plow. But one day he got the opportunity of a lifetime. The opportunity for a new adventure and a new career. Elijah, the great prophet, called him to walk and work with him.

And what did Elisha do? Well, he finished what he was busy with. But he finished it well. Elisha completes his work in the fields. He builds an altar from his implements. He slaughters his oxen to sacrifice to God. He holds a feast on the farm with his countrymen and blesses his community. He says his goodbyes to mom and dad and starts on his new journey. Elisha finished his season with faithfulness and favor to his fellow man. That’s why he could leave in peace unto greater things. Done deal.

In later years, there was another man who wanted to follow Jesus, but this man did not want to make the necessary changes in his life (Luke 9:61-62). Are you living in the past, or striving towards the future? Some of us can’t go forward, because we keep looking backwards, and that’s why we don’t have vision for the future. Some of us can’t move forward, because we are holding on to what we should have already left behind, and that’s why we are stuck where we are at.

Are you stuck in the ‘glory days’ of what you have achieved or attempted earlier in life? Then you are likely missing out on striving toward the day of glory God still has in store for you. Is the season during which you made mistakes still cleaving to your heart?

Get rid of guilt. Get right with those you’ve wronged. Get ready for the place God is calling you to!

A new season cannot begin if you don’t conclude the previous season and walk with continuity into the next. Stop sitting in your circumstance, stuck with fear. Start moving and move with faith! Keep working faithfully and living gratefully but stay on the look-out willingly.

Elisha placed his past on the altar and his future in God’s hands. It was a done deal, and he moved in the same direction God’s plan for him was heading. When God calls you, get ready and move in the same direction that He is!