Stay The Course
Many times as Christians we hear the phrase “Stay the course.” While it sounds great and most people would agree its necessary, few understand what it truly means?
Staying the course should start with “a course”. I’m currently writing this while I sit in an airport terminal. There is a hustle and bustle as the sea of people make there way from one place to another all with a specific destinations in mind.
What is the course we are on? Where are we going? Observing the people in the airport I notice a couple of things that I think can be applied to our spiritual lives.
FOCUS
1. The destination is the focus. Whether exiting from a flight, making a connection, or boarding a flight people are walking with a focus. There are signs, “Terminal C”, “Gate 27”, and as people look for the specific location that will take them to their destination they are determined to make it where they need to be. God has a destination and plan for everyone. We should pursue it purposefully like we do when we are in an airport.
DISTRACTIONS
2. Ignoring the distractions. Walking through an airport, people are so focused that they do not stop for the distractions that surround them. We know how important it is that we make it to our destination. We know the investment that we have made whether money or time and how valuable it is that we make our flights. There are so many times that we know God has given us something to do, but we let distractions get in the way. When it comes to doing what God wants, there seems to be a ready made distraction waiting.
TIME
3. The time is accounted for. By this I mean that when we know we are going the airport, we calculate the cost of our time. We think of how early we need to leave home in order to get the airport. We think of the car ride there, the weather, and how much time we will need to get through security. When we want to see God’s plan in our lives we need to do the same thing. Let’s think of the “cost.” Do we need to rearrange our schedule? How much time do we need to commit to this to see it come to pass? What other areas of our lives do we need to commit to God and what will it cost?
I don’t believe that staying the course is as hard as we make it out to be, if it’s important to us. We can absolutely finish, whatever it is. Let’s tell ourselves that it’s important and then treat it as such. The things that we value, we make room for in our lives. We can do this! Once we do, we’ll race to see God’s amazing grace and plan come into our lives.
