Every now and then when I’m facing something grim, I draw on a visual image.
There I am, looking out at a bleak landscape. Somehow–and I don’t have any idea how–I have to cross it. Despair and fear and insecurity barrage me. It is desolate. I am alone. I am afraid.
I take a deep breath and remind myself: God has asked me to enter this wilderness. God has asked me to cross it. This is God’s work that He has asked me to do. And God sent his people into the wilderness together.
That makes me stop and think. Instead of looking ahead into the barrenness, I slowly turn my head around and look behind me. And there I see “a great cloud of witnesses,” (Hebrews 12:1) a huge army amassed behind me, a whole tribe of the faithful who are ready to walk with me through that arid desert.
READ MORE: POSITIVE THOUGHTS FROM NORMAN VINCENT PEALE
I am not alone. I am never alone. I have you. And you have me. And we have Jesus. And every single saint that ever lived is up there in heaven rooting for us so that we–the people of God, led by the Son of God–will find a way to put one foot after another, and slowly and haltingly stumble into the promised land.
Remember that.
Yes, remember that.