I wrote a song many years ago and the hook had these lyrics:

Perseverance is endurance combined

with the absolute certainty in the Divine

full assurance in the heart of His promise to you

believe in the impossible and God will come through

When I penned those words, I intentionally included an acronym for faith I heard my Pastor reference on numerous occasions: “Full Assurance In The Heart.”  I knew in order to see the impossible, it would require my faith in God’s ability to actually do the impossible.  Moreover, it would practically demand for an elevated level of perseverance and endurance to be activated within me.

Fast forward to today, I was not thinking about this song until I pondered what I should share with you.  As I rehearsed the lyrics in my mind, I was honestly surprised I even remembered them! I recognized each stanza caused me to pause and reflect. I began asking myself, “Do you have faith for the impossible? Are you preserving?  Are you running ahead of God or lagging behind?

If you would just slow down

You’d realize your sprinting in a marathon, slow down

This race ain’t given to the swift

It’s the one how presses on and accepts His gift of grace

They are equipped for the race

The learn to persevere, they run at God’s pace.

(exert from the song)

My dad bought me this all-in-one type of pot called the Meta Pot (it is similar to the Insta Pot.)  It functions as a pressure cooker, a steamer, a rice cooker, and probably something else I haven’t tried.  I used it once to make rice and it was pretty straight forward.  I added the rice, water, seasonings, and put on the top (which locks in place.)  The next step was to select the option “rice.”  Pressing the button tells the pot to go into pre-heat mode.  Once that step is completed, the rice starts cooking for a predetermined amount of time.  If you follow the instructions correctly, you should have the finished product of fluffy, flavorful rice.  Imagine if I did not lock the lid correctly, how would that change the outcome? What if I opened the lid before the timer beeped?  To obtain the desired outcome, I could not skip steps. If I did, the results would be skewed.  There is a process.  When we try to circumvent the process, it skews the finished product.  The same is true for us. Think of a time when you decided to skip the process God laid out for you and followed your own path.  How did that work out? Did you get the result you were hoping for? Were you set back?  At times, it can feel like God is taking too long but He knows how long we need to stay in the pressure cooker.  Be Patient. 

Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.  Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace.]  And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4 AMP

Until Next Time,

Live Audaciously!

Kay Naomi