Know when to move on

"But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.'" Acts 18:6 NLT

On Sunday, October 6, Dan McDowell, 37, of Portland joined several hundred other runners at the start line of the Portland Marathon, a race under new management and with a new route. Seeking to obtain a sub 2:45 time, McDowell was hopeful that the years of snafus the event was infamous for under the old management were now a thing of the past. Unfortunately for him though, Dan was one of about 20 of the race's fastest runners who took a wrong turn at an intersection that lacked a clear sign. By the time McDowell realized what had happened, he knew it was too late to achieve his goal and so admitted to having a little bit of a meltdown before deciding to drop out and save his legs for another day - undoubtedly a hard call to make but a wise one since continuing on would only have drained him of the strength and energy to run the next race and achieve the goal time he really wanted. 

And you know, as this story shows, there will be a time in everyone's life when they will face a hopeless situation and have to decide whether to press on or move on. Paul certainly understood this when he, after devoting himself exclusively to testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, was met with intense opposition and insults. Knowing the situation was hopeless, Paul made the wise decision to save his strength and energy and move on saying, "From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles." And because of this decision, the Bible tells us that many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

So you see, if Paul had continued to try and persuade the Jews of Jesus' true identity, he would have missed out on the opportunity to bring many Gentiles to Christ. So let us learn from Paul's example my friend. May we move on in the midst of clearly hopeless situations that we might not waste our strength and energy on anything less than what God has planned for us. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for being the God who is worthy of all praise and honor. Lord, please give us utmost discernment to know when we should press on and when we should move on. May our number one priority be to serve You in the place and in the way that we can reach the most people. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Higher - Unspoken