I got a call from my neighbor last night. The other day I had left some flowers on her doorstep. Her husband passed away three days after Christmas. He was eighty-three.
“I just have to keep going, I guess,” she said to me over the phone that night.
I woke up this morning with her words still with me.
It’s true, sometimes the only thing we can do is keep going.
Whether there are regrets we leave behind or overwhelming uncertainties ahead, what else can we do but press on?
This comes to mind, a reminder from Paul, bound in chains, the prison doors slammed shut in his face:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 3:14
Impassioned with a single goal, Paul took his eyes off his chains, and kept his focus upward.
I greatly admire that, because I know, this would not come easy for me.
Lately, life has been asking me to think upon what will really matter in eternity. As my husband and I wrestle with our future plans, our kids’ futures, a possible relocation, the fear of another health setback… it is easy to become short sighted and strive toward the path of least resistance. Lately, I realize, the more you hold close, the more you fear there is to lose.
But the one thing I am learning is that the moment I look down, look back, look too far ahead, is the moment I think “I can’t do this” and I start to fall.
It’s only when I have the sense to keep my eyes up, to the One who not only holds every beat of my heart, but the weight of eternal glory, that I have any chance of facing the future with confidence.
Because it helps to remember that the God who broke Paul’s chains and shook the dungeon doors open, is my God, too.
For the believer, the way is narrow and often steep. It may be lonely. Many times we will find ourselves face down, wanting nothing more than to give up and take the easy course.
But let’s not lose heart. Even as the process is slow, God is moving in mighty ways. The calling on our lives may feel too great, but through grace, we have been equipped for this journey. And it matters most how we finish.
Last night, as we were ending our conversation, my neighbor shared this with me, her voice soft with regret, “When we were young, my husband and I, we did everything together. Everything. But after 59 years, well, we grew apart.”
It’s so very hard to finish well.
Yet in the end, we all stand in reward or regret. Sometimes I wonder, when I am finally in God’s presence, what would be my greatest reward? Regret?
Honestly, I shudder to think of all that I may have chased that had so little value.
It’s not that we fling this life off and rush into eternity, live so in the clouds that we forget to see that our hearts beat this moment for a reason…
But that we remember there is something so powerful about living fully now, yet in the light of eternity.
And something beautiful about pressing on, finding hope through it all, fully confident of the glory to come.
So here’s to looking up and pressing on. 🙂
Here’s a song that has been playing all week in my home, “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize” by Sara Groves. (Click on the song and be blessed!)
invited by grace 
I do sincerely believe in all you wrote as I believe in God. I just hope to be with someone with whom I’ll never grow apart. Until the end. Someone who will support me as I will support him, with whom I’ll go through life and we’ll go holding hands, not looking different directions with our heads held down.
Thank you for your beautiful words. 🙂
Reblogged this on Silver Lining Mama and commented:
Live in the present.
Look up to the Divine.
Press on no matter what.
Mantras of my 30s.😊
@invitedbygrace wrote it more beautifully…
Thank you so much for the reblog. 🙂 Here’s to embracing every moment and living with courage this 2015. 🙂
Beautifully written… and Keep Your Eyes on the Prize is one of my absolute favorites. Pressing on isn’t always easy- but He is with us every step of the way!
So glad to have found another Sara Groves fan… yes, I just love that song. 🙂 He is with us every step of the way – how I cling to that, Julie!
I like this a lot Kim! I reflect often on many of the same things. There is beauty in our willingness, submission in going forward open entirely to God’s will. It’s a lifetime of daily conversions, but He will lead us through all the fog and the clearings if we listen.
Yes a lifetime of daily conversions. That is well said. 🙂 I think it is really about being still enough to listen… thank you for your comment! 🙂
Amen! Great post! So uplifting. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! And thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Such beautiful encouragement here, Kim. Keeping our gaze upward and trusting He’ll lead the way. Loved your words.
Tiffany, thank you. That seems to be the focus this year… keeping my gaze up! Is this easy? Not really! But His grace makes it possible… so glad to be on this journey of trusting Him more with you!
Loved every bit of what you wrote! Encouraging and motivating. Thanks so much Kim for sharing this!
Thank you for the comment. 🙂 So glad you found it encouraging.
You are reminding me of C.S. Lewis brilliance from the mouth of Screwtape. Can’t quote it exactly, but he tells his nephew that a sure way of foiling a client’s faith is to get them almost to the end of a trial and then convince them that they can’t possibly stand one more minute of it. As my boys #3 and #4 get past the mid-point of their schooling and their childhood, the truth of your post is very near to my heart. Thanks.
Thank you Michele for your thoughtful comment. I appreciate it. 🙂 CS Lewis is one of my favorite thinkers/writers. That is an excellent reference…. it’s at the end of the trial when the test feels greater and we are usually tempted by sheer weariness. But by God’s grace we press on. 🙂 My #1 boy is nearing middle school, and I too am beginning to feel the bittersweet weight of the years…so much to be thankful for though, and so much more to learn!
Very motivational! I love the verse you mentioned, I recently read that in my bible and wrote it down to remember it! 🙂
That is awesome to hear! I too need to remember on a daily basis to keep on towards the goal….thank you for your comment 😊. So sorry for the late reply!