On Monday, we talked about how God taught me the lesson of perseverance and continues to do so. You can read it here. Today we get to look at two other lesson He has and is teaching me.
1. He is there–always. Each day, I would ask the Lord for one thing that day that would remind me that He is there and I am where I am supposed to be. He never failed. By the end of OCS, I was calling it my MIT (my Moment In Time). He showed up every single day, sometimes more than once. It is something I still use, though. Life can be hard at times and I do this same thing again, asking Him for my MIT for today. In that moment, I am reminded that He is there and with His help I can go another day.
He gives us Scripture to remind us of this as well:
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
2. We should not go it alone. At OCS, God gave me a buddy, a battle buddy. She was only a couple of years younger than me. She hurt too. As a prior-enlisted Marine, she was a tough cookie, but that herniated disc about did her in. We would help her put her pack on each day by the end and then she could pull it off for the rest of the day. She amazed me, still does. God gave me my buddy for a purpose. We would look at each other daily and say, “If you get up and going tomorrow, I’ll get up and going.” At OCS, we did have the option to drop on request. She got up every day. Me too, in no small part because she did.
We need battle buddies in this Christian walk, friends who will motivate us and challenge us to follow Christ wholeheartedly for another day even on the days we want to quit. We do the same for them. He allows us to walk this road together. Battle buddies are important, yet sometimes we go it alone. I have to be reminded that He didn’t make me to do it alone. I need them and they need me.
Guess what? He gave us Scripture for this also:
Hebrews 10:25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
With Scripture as our lifeline, God challenges us to keep going. In doing so, He produces in us a life of love, joy, and hope. Through our walk, we begin to see what He can do and is doing in us.
We grow because we walk.
I say we keep going.
Kori Yates loves adventure and her ongoing stint as an Army wife has given her just that. Desiring to bring together Christian military women and impact a globe for Christ, she has helped launch Planting Roots. Through events live and online, their prayer is for revival among military women. Kori is also an author (Olive Drab Pom-Poms) and speaker, as well as a homeschooling mom of two amazing kids and wife to one awesome Soldier.
