One of the most memorable moments in the movie about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team isn’t the victory over the Soviet Union, but what took place long before the game ever began. After a disappointing exhibition loss, Coach Herb Brooks gathered his players at center ice and ordered them to skate. They skated until their legs gave out, until they collapsed from exhaustion, and until they believed they had nothing left to give. The arena emptied, the fans went home, the lights were turned off, and the janitors finished their work, yet the team continued skating. To everyone watching, it appeared excessive, harsh, and even unfair. However, Herb Brooks was not punishing his players because they had lost a game. He was preparing them for a game they had not yet played. He knew they would eventually stand across the ice from the greatest hockey team in the world. The Soviet team was stronger, faster, more experienced, and had spent years dominating international competition. If his players trained only to meet the demands of the opponents they had already faced, they would never survive the challenge that awaited them. The intensity of their training reflected the magnitude of the battle they had yet to encounter. The Christian life often unfolds in much the same way. Many believers assume that seasons of hardship indicate God's absence or displeasure. When life becomes difficult, it is tempting to wonder why God would allow so much pain, so many delays, or so many disappointments. Yet Scripture consistently reveals that God is not merely concerned with our present comfort. He is preparing His people for future assignments that require a depth of faith they do not yet possess. God often allows us to experience trials because He sees battles that remain hidden from our view. James teaches that the testing of our faith produces perseverance. Paul explains that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the discipline of the Lord is painful for a season, yet it eventually produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness in those who have been trained by it.

I remember sitting at the altar about a year ago, while SURRENDER was being played. Surrender had been on my heart that evening, and when the worship team began singing "I surrender" I went to the altar and dropped to my knees. I told God that I had surrendered everything to him, and will continue to. To my surprise he quickly showed me that I hadn't. I heard him say "Give me your dreams and desires" and I began to weep. I asked him, "what will I hold onto then, that is all I have left" of which he replied "Me..." I painfully agreed, and began weeping more. I couldn't hold on to Jesus if I was so desperately clinging to my dreams and desires. Seemingly the only thing I had left to cling to.... That said, this past year has been a year of letting go. Letting go of friendships, ideas, dreams. Letting go of hurts, disappointments, longings. Letting go of my plans of how I think things should go. Letting go of the "what if's" - if life could have just gone the way I'd hope it would have. Letting go of some of my deepest desires and longings. Letting go of things I dont even know I'm holding onto. Letting go of the unknown. Letting go of my measly attempts to keep some sort of control. The scripture says in Phillipians 1:21 "for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Oh how painful it has been to die. But surely in this death, I shall be raised again, and the outcome of that resurrection shall be much more fruitful than the desires of my flesh. Romans 8 teaches us that we must put off all selfishness and that those who live by the flesh shall die, and those who live by the spirit shall live. Despite this metaphorical fleshly death that has occurred, I can be assured that I shall find life through that. For the Spirit of the living God in me brings LIFE! This present suffering, is nothing compared to the Glory of God that shall be revealed in me. In YOU! https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208&version=NIV

(An entry from Grace and Truth Magazine, written by Halie Asmus) Habbukuk 2:1-3 1 I will stand on my guard post, And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, And how I may reply when I am reproved. 2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets,That the one who reads it may run. 3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. The Ache of Waiting We have all been in seasons of waiting. Whether that be waiting for a spouse, waiting for prodigals to come home, waiting for business deals to land, or waiting for doors to open. The scripture says a longing unfulfilled, or hope deferred, makes the heart sick. You see it, you feel it, you’ve experienced it. You know exactly what I am talking about. Habakkuk knows all too well about this too. A Prophet Who Wrestled With God Habakkuk was a prophet who lived in Judah, Israel’s southern kingdom. Habakkuk, although a prophet, is unique in the sense that he didn’t speak to Israel on behalf of God. Instead, his writings are written dialogue of his conversation with the Lord, written as poetry. Habakkuk struggled with trusting that God was good with all of the corruption of the world. He also struggled with trusting that God’s promises would be fulfilled. Waiting in the Middle of the Promise Through the book, we see that Babylon shall both rise and fall. That justice would prevail, and God’s promises remain. Habakkuk begins to wrestle with this because he has not yet seen any indication of the Lord’s promises being fulfilled. He was in that waiting season. The season that seems to drag on and is full of lamentation. The season that begins to feel like God cannot be trusted, or that perhaps you did not hear God correctly. The Weight of the Vision In Chapter two, God tells Habakkuk to write the vision down and make it plain. In Hebrew, this reads as chazon (חָזוֹן), meaning to see, a divinely inspired revelation, something God initiates and releases, not something Habakkuk imagines or invents. Then God says the vision is for an appointed time, moed (מוֹעֵד), meaning a fixed, scheduled, set moment. It is the same word used for feast days and holy appointments, which tells us God already locked in the moment this will unfold.

He is so intentional!

Everyone wants to know their calling, but very few people are willing to say yes before they know what it is. When God asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah did not ask for details or wait until he felt ready. He answered with surrender: “Here am I Lord. Send me.” Calling does not begin with perfect clarity. It begins with a heart that is willing to obey. God is not searching for impressive people. He is looking for people who are available.