April is here and with it the hope of resurrection rises in our hearts and over the entire city as the trees begin to bloom and the flowers start popping through the ground waking up from a cold, long, hard winter. The signs of life are all around us during this time of the year!
I was waiting in the Atlanta airport for my flight home recently when I noticed a young man with crutches coming down the ramp. He was struggling carrying his luggage while trying to walk with a bum leg using crutches. I felt for him. No doubt when he had made plans to make this trip he was healthy with two fully functioning legs, but somewhere before the time of his departure on his trip he had an accident and messed up one of his legs. Ah such is life isn’t it? We make plans to serve God and then the enemy comes in and makes havoc of our good intentions. It is in these times we often raise our hands in surrender and come to the conclusion that God is leading us in a different direction. Some of us even set up camp and focus on the pain of our hurts that have stopped us moving forward in the direction we felt God was leading us. We will have others inviting us to join them to the family of the hurting. They will make us feel at home as we join with them in the chorus singing “Life is unfair, my wounds hurt beyond compare, and what’s worse is nobody cares lade dah, lade dah”. It is easy to quit and stay in the camp of the pity partiers. But God is calling us onward; he is beckoning us to move forward in the wilderness because there is a promised land waiting for us a land of joy and adventure! And yes even giants! But remember these giants will fall as we take the land that He is given us. The Israelites wanted to return to Egypt many times in their journey. Learn from their mistakes have the attitude in your heart that says “I will not quit.” As I moved forward to help the young man pick up one of his bags, there appeared a huge man from behind him that I hadn’t noticed. With one hand he held the young man up, preventing him from falling, and with his other swooped up the bag lying on the floor. The young man turned to him and just simply said “Thanks Dad”. Yep that’s right, in this journey we are called to walk, He our Father walks with us. He will never leave us, nor forsake us! We have no excuse to quit, for the one who has set us on this path walks with us and even when we fail, or get hurt and the burden weighs us down, even to the point where we feel like quitting, our Heavenly Father is there with us to steady us, to keep us from falling, and to help us carry our burden. He will not only give us the strength to make it to our final destination but he will help us fight the giants along the way. As I watched the two walk away, well actually the son was still looking pretty awkward navigating the airport on crutches, the two of them were laughing and enjoying each other as they continued on their journey. We too have a Heavenly Father walking with us on our journey and even when we are hurt, don’t give up, don’t quit! Even if we have to use crutches and walk with a limp, there is joy in the journey for He walks with us!!!!!!