What Motivates You?

I took this picture of Hannah at Saturday's Tennis Meet.  The blank wall just seemed to beg for a verse. As I was going through my photos, I thought about part of my dad's sermon from this past Sunday.  He talked about how to have peace.  I thought it was fitting after a week where peace wasn't easy to come by...where I felt like I was treading water to keep my head above the water.  

There were moments where I felt like we were under attack...moments that I handled with grace....moments where I failed....but none the less, moments where I could have had peace in the midst of the trial if only I had listened to the Holy Spirit instead of myself.  Can anyone relate?

I felt like I had crossed the finish line of last week bruised and a bit beaten.  I have to chuckle a bit, because I often wonder how we will cross the finish line of this life?  Will we be perfectly whole and happy, or will we be a bit bruised and beaten? The Bible talks about us having fought the good fight and finished the race...which makes me think we will be so relieved to have crossed the finish line of life. We will see Jesus just as He is...what a day that will be!  

Back to Dad's sermon.  He encouraged that if we are going to have a life of peace we must spend time with the Lord...and that shouldn't exclusively consist of spending 5 minutes a week in prayer asking the Lord to bless our food.  If we are going to hear from His heart, we have got to spend time in prayer pouring out our hearts before Him, and listening to His heart too. 

To be honest, last week I had my daily devotion time with the Lord but it was more abbreviated than normal...much like my temperament.  No, I'm not taking the blame for all of the events that happened last week, but I am admitting my part in all of it. 

Which leads me back to Hannah's photo and verse.  If we are going to be part of the team, we have to practice, work hard, and put forth our best effort.  That's true in tennis but even truer in life.  If we are part of God's team, we need to spend time with our Coach, work hard, study hard, and by living a Spirit-filled life, always put forth our best effort.  One day we will be rewarded with an eternal crown...a crown that we will place at the feet of the One who is so worthy of our praise.  Just that thought alone makes me want to continue training to be more like Jesus...less of me...more of Him.