What Is Your Excuse? 7-5–26

Welcome to the word for the week. Let’s have straight talk this week and get straight to the point. Everything in life does not have to have an explanation with it. There are some things that simply cannot be explained no matter how much we try to explain them. It will never make sense why God saved any of us after all we had done before He saved us. It will never make sense what He sees in us. Even the angels ask the question what is man that You are mindful of them? Some of the least likely are saved. Some of the people we may call good people are not. Some people who never stepped foot in church are now there every time the doors are open. Someone else who grew up knowing God no longer attends any church. Two people fall down in life. One gets back up and goes on to great success while the other falls even further and never recovered. What is it about one person that is any  different than the next person?

Life was never designed to always make sense. Scientists to this day are still trying to find any alternative to our existence other than God. They search high and low and still find nothing. It does not make sense how the planets stay in alignment in this universe. None of these things have to make any sense. All that needs to make sense on this journey is that you are sure of your salvation. The process to get there is up to God. What each of us will have to go through is not determined by us. What we really need to focus on is the outcome. There will come a day when we will live in eternity with our Heavenly Father. We will have peace that never ends. Joy that never ceases. There will be no more troubles and tears. There will one day come a time when everything will make sense. In the meantime, what can or should we do?

The bible tells us to live each day according to that day. We are not to focus on tomorrow that is not promised to us. We are to live today for today. That means you give your best to God today. You do what you can and are supposed to do today. You do not assume there will be another day or time. You treat each moment as if it matters for your last moment. In other words, you give God the glory every chance you get. This is not always done by a shout. This is done through action. You will not always be able to shout. You may only an opportunity to live this out. When everyone else at work is acting out of character over the shift times you stay in character. If everyone else shows up late you show up on time. You remind yourself Who opened that door for you. You remind yourself that you are not as deserving for that position as you might think you are. You did not pay the price for your place in life but God did.

It is easy to lose hope. It is easy to be distracted. It is easy to get tired and surrender. But can you dig down deep within when it matters the most? Can you depend on the Holy Ghost within you when your back is up against the wall? Can you trust God when all of the natural signs say it is over? Can you believe God for the impossible when it is you that needs the help? Can you summon your faith when there is no option but to call on the name of the Lord? Blaming others for your surrender is one of the most lame excuses we see in people. Their own actions and choices are always the result of someone else. You choose your own choices. The bible says to choose this day and it also encourages us to choose wisely. The person next to you is not the reason for your downfall. You are because you took your eyes and heart off of God. The system is not against you. Your choices are. You can choose to fight in the name of Jesus or lay down. You can choose to be about Our Father’s business or to quit. You choose to either pick up your own cross and bear it or lay it down and quit. The same way your trials do not make sense to you is the same way your lack of faith makes no sense to God. After all, He has already given you everything you need to win on this journey. What is your excuse?

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