Condemnation or Conviction?

 For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God. I Cor. 4:4-5

There are two voices that I can hear as a believer. One is pervasive. I really don't need to tune in to it. This voice tells me many things, but nothing good. Paul refused to listen to this voice. He says, "I know of nothing against myself". Lately, though, I have been heeding these lies. These lies tell me that I am weak, that I am not a good leader, that I have found myself in a bad situation, and that it is all my fault. Enough of this already! 

But there is another Voice, the Voice of Truth. This voice, though in my spirit, is not a voice I might automatically hear. I must listen. Jesus tells me I must receive, each day, a Word from God, which is my daily bread. This is my prayer each day. 

Wasted life?

 “‭Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ‭I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 3:13-14, AV)

Sometimes I look back at my life, and I wonder what I might have accomplished.  I never really apprehended anything. My life seems to have been very small compared to what other men have done. Perhaps Paul, though certainly the most influential Christian who ever lived, was pondering the same things.

However, Paul was not wallowing in self pity, enveloped in regret. No, his eyes were on the challenges ahead of him. For Paul, hope always carried him. He was determined to finish well, and he did. 

So with us, saints. Do we realize that our sufferings,  our failures, have prepared us for a glorious future <2 Corinthians 4:16-18>? We  may be past our physical prime, but God's purposes are always ahead of us. Let us then, if we look back, do so in the eyes of faith, knowing that Jesus is tge Alpha and the Omega,  the beginning and the end. He who has called us is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.