Nevertheless

Life is full of challenges, obstacles, and pressures. There does not seem to be a day when there is a break from that truth (how I would love if there was). Hallelujah for growth and learning. Just as Isaiah looked so small up against the giant basketball hoop, that is how the pressures of life can seem when we are up-close to them. When we step back and see them from God's perspective, they don't seem as insurmountable. He has a way of showing us truth like no one can - as no other god can. When Isaiah saw the basketball hoop from far off, I am sure he felt like he could get the ball in there. Seeing others playing the sport also probably helped him find the encouragement that he could do the same - like us when we see others overcoming and making it through challenges. Hallelujah for the Word of God to do the same for us. We can look to those who have gone before us in the faith to see that it is truly possible to overcome and press on. Thank you, Isaiah, for once again revealing truth in such a simple moment of your life!

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Philippians 3:8-14