Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Proverbs 16:25 AMPC
There is a way that seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.
Hebrews 12:1 TLB
Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.
You have a particular race that God has set before you to run. I can’t run your race and you can’t run my race.
It is a spiritual race that has to do with the divine destiny God has planned for you to fulfill.
Many parents tell their children, “You can be whatever you want to be. You can do whatever you want to do.” That’s not entirely true.
It is not for you to decide what you will do, because it has already been decided for you.
It’s for you to discover what God has called you to do and then run your race that God has set for you.
Construction worker versus a brain surgeon.
There are no bad people or useless people; there are just misplaced people.
When people are in their right environment, they will excel.
When you are in your place, you flow in your grace, and you won’t fall on your spiritual face.
1 Corinthians 12:18 NKJV
But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him.
God has a specific place where He wants to set you in the body of Christ, a particular church He wants you to attend, a particular Pastor to shepherd you. When you are in the right church, [not perfect church] you’ll be blessed, and you’ll be a blessing.
God wants you to not only run your race but finish your race or course with joy.
2 Timothy 4:7 NKJV
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Paul finished strong and so will you.
Acts 20:24 NKJV
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Paul said, “none of these things move me.” Stop allowing things to move you.
Don’t be distracted. Stay focused on your mission and your assignment.
Follow God’s plan for your life.
If you stop for every dog that barks, you will never reach your destination.
Listen, “Criticism is a compliment if you know what you are doing is right.”
John 4:34 NKJV
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”
Jesus finished what His Father sent Him to do. Learn to be a finisher. Finish what you started. Preserve until you get it done.
“Be like a postage stamp, stick to it until you get there.”
Don’t leave people in a place where they must finish off what you started because you decided you had enough, and you are leaving.
Leave the last place bad and your future is small. Leave the last place good and your future is bright.
In the Christian life it’s not how you start that matters, it’s how you finish.
Failure is not fatal with God. If you missed it, repent, get up again and keep running your race.
Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1-2 MSG
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
You are not to run someone else’s race or finish someone else’s course, for God has set a different course before each of us.
Follow God’s Plan For Your Life.
No need for us to be jealous of one another’s calling and place.
I’ve been declaring!
I’m not running somebody else’s race. I’m running my own race. I’m in my place and I’m flowing in my grace. I’ve come into alignment with my heavenly assignment. I am obedient to the heavenly vision.
We don’t compare and compete with each other, we complement each other.
2 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
Why are they not wise? Because you might be comparing your chapter 1 with their chapter 10.
We all have our own set of unique capabilities.
A Rabbit on the Swim Team
Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do something meaningful to meet the problems of the new world. So they organized a school.
They adopted an activity curriculum of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming; in fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying, and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to drop swimming and stay after school to practice running. This caused his web feet to be badly worn, so that he was only average in swimming. But average was quite acceptable, so nobody worried about that-except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of his class in running, but developed a nervous twitch in his leg muscles because of so much make-up work in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing, but he encountered constant frustration in flying class because his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He developed “Charlie horses” from overexertion and so only got a C in climbing and a D in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was severely disciplined for being a non-conformist. In climbing classes he beat the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.
The obvious moral of the story is a simple one – each creature has its own set of capabilities in which it will naturally excel – unless it is expected or forced to fill a mould that doesn’t fit.
When we force people, or expect people to fill a mould that they don’t fit into, it results in frustration, discouragement and even guilt bring overall mediocrity or complete defeat.
If God made you a duck saint – you’re a duck, friend. Swim like mad but don’t get bent out of shape because you wobble when you run; or flap instead of fly.
Furthermore, if you’re an eagle saint, stop expecting squirrel saints to soar or rabbit saints to build the same kind of nests you do.
So relax. Be yourself. Be who God created you to be. Stop comparing and enjoy being you!
Stay faithful and follow God’s plan for your life.