Keep Going

Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash

How do you find the strength to strain forward in the face of challenges and adversity? How do you find the courage to fail forward when you fall or fail in the face of misfortune?

We will never finish the course if we stop or quit when we encounter trials or hardships.

As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote the church in Philippi, “I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, ESV).

When faced with all that is before us, we press in; we lean in; we press on; we move forward; we do not look back; we look forward; we look ahead; we do not quit, we press on; we fight the fight; we finish the course; we run the race; and with God’s help, we achieve the goal and we attend the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

As Paul said to the Philippians earlier, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV).

Like the Apostle Paul, may we press forward towards the goal, may we keep going in the face of adversity and uncertainty—“toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”—and may we finish well.

A Collect For Endurance: “Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the Cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash