Let God Set The Pace! 1-4-26

Welcome to the word for the week. We are officially at the beginning of a new year. Happy New Year to all of you!! As I always say on the first word for the week, the theme for our church is the Year of Perseverance. It may be different at your church and that is fine. Every house may have a different mandate and God knows who is at each place and what they need. With that being said we are going to get straight to things for where we are. As I said earlier today, perseverance in a simple statement means to push when you want to quit. In other words, you do not give up when hope is promised to you. You do not throw in the towel when you do not know just how close to the finish line you really are. You do not give up on God when you do not know what He is getting ready to do. You dig down deep, hold on tight, and you go for the ride that God has assigned for you.

You always hear me say a quitter never wins and a winner never quits. The quitter will not know if things could have worked out because they quit before it was over. The winner had the same option but decided to hang in there and found themselves on the side of victory. The glass is never half empty. The same glass is actually half full. As long as there is something in it you can never call it empty. For those of you from the country you will be able to instantly understand this next point. You have an empty gas tank and then you are slap out of gas. Empty means you can probably squeeze another mile out of it and if you are patient you can drive slower and possible get two more miles. Slap out of gas means it is time to walk or call for help. Again, your glass is half full not half empty. Your perception can either encourage or discourage you. Either way it points back to how you think.

Get it out of your mind that you are in a sprint. You are in a marathon so learn to pace yourself. The race is given to the one who endures. Running too fast is what causes some people to not be able to finish. Take your time because every step you take is important. If an option to do something is still on the table after you thought you lost then what does that mean? Is it possible that God is giving you another chance? Is it possible that you did not lose but simply needed to regroup? Give this some thought. Your GPS system will tell you when your will arrive before you even leave. It is basing that on you driving the speed limit and it takes into account traffic. If you notice it does not simply change because you start driving faster. It understands you may not keep that pace and it also knows what traffic is in front of you. You have to drive constantly at that new speed for a lot of miles before you see the arrival time change. Why? Because driving fast in spurts does not mean you will keep that same pace during the whole drive. The point is to take your time because you are going to arrive when you are supposed to. Now, apply that point to the rest of your year and let God have His way. You are going to arrive at the set time. It will not be a minute sooner or a minute later but you will arrive!

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