I often wonder what it would be like to turn back the hands on a clock and reverse our lives at a fast speed, so we could pick out the times we gave up on something right before a major break through was about to happen.

Inventors kept on going until they found a solution for the problems of mankind. Physicians and other scientists keep pressing on to discover ways to extend life. Authors spend years trying to create the one manuscript which might take a huge literary award some day. An artist spends great chunks of time to create a masterpiece and with just one more brush stroke, it would be finished.

The point I’m trying to make here, is that we often miss the mark in life. We press on and run the race, according to Saint Paul, but somewhere in the mix, we get discouraged and give up. If we had only put in one more hour, day, week, month or year until we came to the perfect end.

The trouble is, we’re all subject to stopping right at the cusp of a new discovery. We don’t always push through the muck of life and keep pressing on. We lack the courage, strength, patience, fortitude, chutzpah, or financial backing necessary. Without those things, we pull back and feel there is no ending to the story we’re pursuing. That is, unless you have the greatest partner working right beside you.

Through trials and persecution, through could-have-beens and should’ve-beens., we might think the tests in life are telling us to change direction. We may be right to trust our own instincts, but to believe that we can make it through this life alone, is a narrow minded way to think and live.

Trusting in God takes courage, but once we turn our lives completely over to him, we’re bound for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual freedom.  Putting our trust in His direction is not easy. It requires the faith of a child, the faith of an old woman giving her final penny to thank God for His blessings to come. Faith comes from believing in the truth of God’s Word and following through. We shall never walk alone. We’ll win every time if we depend on God’s mercy and direction.