A thought by Christine Caine from her book, Unstoppable: Running the Race You Were Born To Win (p. 135). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
I don’t know what you are going through. I don’t but God does and I do
know he will use it.
Christine shares, “God’s divine relay threatens the enemy’s territory, and he will not go down without a fight. If you have any doubt of that, just read of his insidious attempts to tempt Jesus at the onset of his ministry (Matthew 4: 1-11) and of his work in Judas (Matthew 26). If he is bold enough to try to take on the Son of God, he won’t hesitate to do his best to thwart us, the followers of Christ.”
But look at this, 1 John 4:4 (NASB) says, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
Christine goes on, “Jesus overcame the Evil One. The enemy is already defeated. And what’s more, God uses the enemy’s tactics against him. What the enemy intends for evil, God uses for good. Yes, Satan used Judas to betray the Lord, but God intended for Jesus to stand trial and be condemned to death. Yes, Satan used the scheming of Jesus’ enemies to have him crucified but, in so doing, Satan fulfilled God’s plan for securing eternal life for all who believe in Jesus. Satan loses! God wins!”
Christine continues, “I see this at work in my own life. The enemy sought to destroy me through abandonment and abuse, but God rescued me to make me a rescuer. What the enemy intended for evil, God used for good. So what happens when the enemy attacks a runner in the divine relay? What happens when the fiery darts come at us, when trials beset us, when storms come, when opposition hits? Do we allow these attacks, trials, and storms to stop us? No! God uses every single trial to our benefit, for our good.”
She then says, “With greater strength, we can handle increased responsibility — greater batons. As we do, as our impact increases, the opposition grows fiercer, which in turn, if we persevere, increases our endurance. All the time God is building us and strengthening us. As we trust him and see his faithfulness, we can run harder and faster on the next leg and the next.
“From my vantage point, one of the most beautiful realities is that more often than not, a champion never self-identifies as one. The greatest champions I know are ordinary people who trust the true champion, Jesus, to come through and do what he said he would do. They run. They obey. They follow Jesus anywhere and everywhere, and no matter what challenges they hit, they keep on running.
So, no matter what you may be going through today, will you keep trusting in Jesus and keep running in the race he has for you? Will you?
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