I just wanted to tell you today that you are doing so much better than you think you’re doing, and you’ve come a lot farther than you think you have. When I was younger, there was this drive that we would do up in the mountains and you can walk these switchbacks kind of straight up at this huge incline to see the top of a waterfall. And I remember, you know, we’d make the drive and we’d have so much excitement to get to the top of this waterfall. And it’s a hike, you know, so you start out really enthusiastic, things are going great, you know, everybody’s going back and forth on these switchbacks with you and then, you know, you get kind of half the way up there and your legs would be burning and your lungs would be burning. And it’s just kinda like, “Oh gosh, am I ever gonna get there?” And I’d look up and I’d still see that I have so much further to go to get to the top of this switchback just to see what it looks like to see the waterfalls from the top looking down. And so you trudge, and you just keep going. And the further up you go, the fewer people you see. And, all of a sudden all you can think about is how painful it is to take that next step.
And I just remember being just gassed and I just didn’t think I had it in me to keep going further. And I just stopped and I turned around and I looked down and I couldn’t even see the parking lot where I started. Like I couldn’t see cars anymore. There were hardly any people around. It was just me and my friends. And I remember thinking, I had no idea that I’d made it this far. And I turned around and I looked and I still had a ways to go, but had just no clue how far I’d already gone.
I feel like sometimes our walk with the Lord is like this, right? We start out with enthusiasm and we have these goals and these things that we want to do. And then along the way it gets hard and you just keep looking at that goal and you think, man, I’m just so far away from where I want to be. But I just want to tell you today that if you just turn around and look back, you’re so much further than you were when you started. From the first moment you said yes to God, you’re so much further, even if you’re not where you want to be.
Philippians 1:6, says this, “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will see it through to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” You know, we have this promise that what God started in us, He’s going to finish. He’s never going to say, “This is too much. You have too far to go. I’m giving up on you.” He just won’t do it. He’s there to see us through to the very end.
And so I just want to pray over us today. God, I thank you so much that you are a God who finishes things. Lord, no matter how hard the road gets, no matter how far away we are, God, you’re there every step of the moment, every step of the way, and every moment. God, thank you for your peace as we walk with you, and that you’re always working to complete us, in Jesus’ name.