Rekindling Your Determination

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3

Determination is a key ingredient in living out the dreams God gives us. But determination can wear thin on those days when it seems everything is going wrong.

When a phone call or letter comes with bad news, or when my plans are forced to a screeching halt due to an uncooperative circumstance or person, my natural reaction is anger, fear, or depression. If life were a movie, dark foreboding music would be playing in the background to heighten the already strong sense of impending doom.

At those moments, it is easy to believe Satan’s lies: “You’re going to fail. This will never happen! What were you thinking?” So I choose to take those thoughts captive by asking three strategic questions:

What’s the worst-case scenario? Usually the obstacles that lie before me are more inconveniences than reasons for failure.

Is God still in control? The obvious answer is yes! God has shown me over and over that he holds the affairs of the world—and of my own life—firmly in his hand.

What help is available to me here? The answer to this question is found in today’s Scripture. When I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, he gives me peace, and in the midst of that peace my determination to follow through on what he’s called me to do is rekindled.

When I’m finished asking myself these three questions, God seems to whisper in my ear the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for ten minutes longer.”

Lord, give me strength to keep my eyes on you, no matter what kind of obstacles come my way.