Stepping Back To Move Forward! 5-31-26

Welcome to the word for the week. Sometimes in life you have to take a step back in order to take two steps forward. You can be moving at a good pace and everything can be going great for you. We all know there are speed bumps along the way so that is not the issue. The issue is when you reach those moments where you cannot move forward until you take a step back. The point is not to delay you or to be an obstacle in your life. The point is to make sure you have everything that you need for the journey in front of you. The best way for this to make sense is to remember that a teacher keeps reinforcing old things that you have already been taught in order to keep pushing you forward. The reason is because there are things that you have already accomplished but they are still necessary to continue to move forward. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to want to close the door on the wrong things in life so let’s go further here.

Your faith is a foundation of everything in your Christian life. Without it you will not believe God. Without it you cannot even approach God. You have to believe that God is who He said He is and that takes faith. You will need faith everyday of your life. You need faith when you go to sleep that you will see another day. You need faith to make it through each day. You need faith to keep your mind right. You need faith to function daily. Every aspect of your life requires faith. It would be impossible to talk about going higher in Christ if you first do not have faith. As much as you may think you have faith down to a science, it is important that you get reminders along the way. Sometimes, you have to step back and really do a deep dive in the matter of faith in order to move forward into something great in front of you. Without that reminder you will not make it.

God is not repeating Himself in your life for the sake of it. There are some trials you will face once and never see again. There are others that you will come across from time to time. Be honest and think about the multiple things that you wish would go away once and for all and yet you have to fight those things from time to time. What is the real purpose? It is to reinforce you for the greater task ahead of you. I cannot imagine passing trigonometry and calculus without having a serious knowledge of fractions. I cannot imagine someone passing advance literature without a real understanding of sentence structure. I also cannot imagine a Christian passing the tests of life without faith. I cannot imagine that happening without the constant reminders. You may think you already have faith nailed down until you face a battle that is bigger than all of the rest. Again, these reminders are necessary.

It is the lessons ignored that become the source of our downfall. When we forget how far God has brought us it is our downfall. When we forget it was Him who won the previous battles we are guaranteed to lose the next one as a reminder. When we go too long without prayer we soon find ourselves back into the very things we have been delivered from. When it seem like God is taking you in circles know that is not the point. He is reminding you because it is needed. Sometimes, you have to remind yourself that the same God who has been with you for your deliverance before is the same God who is still with you. Sometimes, you have to remind yourself that God has already shown you that He will not leave you. So, when you feel lonely in your right now it is not an accident that you get a reminder from God that you are never alone. My point this week is simple. Instead of complaining about the repeats in your life, start to realize that you are closer than you know for your next breakthrough. The reminder is simply God’s way of letting you know to get ready for something great!

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you in His grace,
Bishop Carlos J. Lennon