Magical Motivation

The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:29-31

Today’s Reading: Job 8-10; Acts 8:26-10

As I told you before in The Great Challenge I have felt inspired to go after some things in my life that seem super daunting.

Well I started feeling a bit discouraged.

There’s this time between believing that you will receive something and actually receiving it. It is the battleground of faith. We start to think about these things that we are striving for and start to see impossibility where we once saw the possible. We start to doubt that we ever even had the original push, the original motivation to pursue the dream that is quickly fading away.

But when we are in that valley of doubt between the mountains of purpose and promise we are not alone. There is always something there to guide us.

For the Ethiopian above it was Phillip. For me it was some of you all.

On my post “The Lord Taketh Away?” Jared Jones suggested that I read the book of James. I asked for a specific reference then after a day or so I forgot about it. It was random enough right? “I’ll just get to James when I get to it” is what I thought to myself.

Then a couple of days ago I was talking to my girlfriend about feeling a bit discouraged and she quoted James 2:17 to me…

Hmmm… strange but probably a coincidence… even so, the conversation and the verse totally motivated me and I felt myself getting back on track.

But it didn’t stop there…

The next day I called my friend Kofi about one of these big projects I am working on and I told him about the two times I got hit with the book of James. Not only was he talking about me when I called but he also had his Bible in front of him open to chapter 5 of the book of James.

Ummmm… at this point it was clear that I needed to read the book of James.

So I started reading it last night and got through the first three chapters. I couldn't continue on because I was overwhelmed by how on point it was for where I am in my life and the tools I need to get where I need to go.

So much food for thought….         

I’m saying all of this to say that sometimes we get frustrated because we feel like we don’t have all of the right answers. And that is actually correct. We do not have them by ourselves.

But if we pay attention to those around us, pay attention to our deepest desires, and that little voice inside that continuously urges us to pursue our dreams; it will be easier and easier to see the miracles of life. It will be easier to see the next steps we need to take. It will be easier to have the courage to take them.

We are not alone in our triumphs or our troubles. There is always a helping hand to lead us to where we need to be.