A Message of Inspiration From the Author of Living Loved, September 1, 2024
Hey Friends! I don’t know about you but this last week has just seemed to speed right by and here we are at the beginning of a new week and new month! Let me share a little story from this last week with you! My granddaughter does this cute thing where she will stand far away and say “redEEEE? RedEEEE? RedEEEE?” And then she will say “SET GOOO,” and she will run full speed at one of us and throw herself into our arms. It is so stinking cute. Well one night for some reason she kept looking behind her as she ran. Well as you may already be thinking, she ran smack into a chair in the kitchen, even after I yelled “watch out watch out!” I was already there when she hit the floor because I saw a the collision coming, and I was able to pick her up, hold her tight and kiss it all better. She got a little bruise out of the deal but she went right back to doing it, except this time I said “look at Grammy” as she was running and she stopped looking back and looked at me. She didn’t hit the chair again.
And friends, this is so much like us. God gives us a plan, we ask “ready?” And ZOOOM we take off often times looking back. Looking back maybe at the past. Looking back maybe because we are so used to someone chasing us that we feel like we have to keep making sure “it’s not getting us!” That was the case with my girl, she was used to someone chasing her saying “I’m gonna get you!” So she kept looking back when she ran.
Don’t we find ourselves in this story. Don’t we see that we often times are looking back when we should be looking towards the Father. And sometimes friends, when we are busy looking back, and our eyes aren’t fixed on the Father, we collide with chairs. I think about Peter. He cried to Jesus in the midst of the storm and said, “is that you Jesus? If so, call me out on the water with you!” (Ready? Ready? Ready?). And he stepped out of the boat, walking towards Jesus. That is, until he stopped looking at Jesus and started looking at the storm around him and he began sinking. (Matthew 14:22-32) And like I was with my girl, Jesus met him as he fell and lifted him up and put him back in the boat.
Friends, I don’t know what your working towards, I don’t know what you’re believing for, I don’t know what you’re facing, but I want to encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus. Don’t look at the former things (Isaiah 43:18), Look instead to Jesus, author and perfecter of our faith and run with perseverance the race marked out before you. (Hebrews 12:1-2). Friends, like Peter, we get surrounded by a storm and it may cause our faith to waver, but Jesus never does. Friends, there will always be storms in life, looking back won’t make them not come, but looking back or looking at the storm will cause our faith to waver; it can cause us to come crashing into an obstacle we would have missed had we not taken our eyes off Jesus. But friends listen, like Peter when our faith wavers, The Father meets us in that just as I met my girl when she hit the chair. He meets us, picks us up, and gets us back on track. He doesn’t meet us with shame, He meets us with love and compassion. Friends, we are so loved. So loved by a God who catches us when we fall, picks us up and sets us on solid ground. We are loved by a God who has his arms open wide, ready to receive us as we run toward him like a child to the safe arms of their loved ones. Keep your eyes fixed on Him, let the storms rage but stand in his peace. He is the God who makes a way in the wilderness, parts the waters of the sea. Don’t look back at what used to be! Don’t look back to see if your past is chasing you down. RUN. RUN TO HIM! You are so loved. Live loved friends! Learning to Live Loved, means learning to live in the freedom that no matter what comes, the Love of the Father never fails, never lets go, never gives up, and always catches us. Live from a place of that love, not striving towards it. You are so loved.
About the author
Tracy Kelley is a follower of Jesus, mother, grandmother, author and speaker, living in Sulphur Springs, TX. She is the author of the book Living Loved, Learning to Live in the Fullness of Gods Love, where she shares encouragement from her daily journey and how God has shown His love to her through various trials. You can buy her book, find events, book her for your event, and follow her by going to her Facebook page, where you will always be greeted as friend! You can purchase her book at Good News Book Store in Sulphur Springs, TX; online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and most other major retailers.
