I think we've all experienced times when we become discouraged and defeated that our particular area of kingdom service seems a failure in our eyes. Sometimes that may be a sign from God to move on to another service or a time to take spiritual inventory of our own lives. But more times than not, we allow ourselves to be discouraged because we lose our focus on our Lord Jesus Christ. By that I mean, we forget we are in His hands for His purpose to use us in ways that transcend our common sense. We forget we are not our own...our lives are not our own...we belong to Christ to use us as He sees fit. In other words, when our service seems a failure, even though Christ calls us to function in that service, we have to remember that He is the Cornerstone who put us there and trust Him for what He is doing in and through us.

Of course, this is not an easy recognition or commitment. It often flies in the face of our common sense, but this is where we must be careful and dig deeper in our relationship with God. Sometimes it will require prayer and fasting to discern what God is trying to tell us. Sometimes it will require Godly insight from brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. It's very easy to put blinders on during times of discouragement and never see God's actual working in and through us. My prayer for you and me this day is this: Lord...do not allow Satan to discourage and quench the Spirit's leading in our lives. Help us to remember that You are in control of circumstances and, most of all, our lives. Help us to live our lives in such a way that we can say with the Apostle Paul: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) Amen

Walk with the King today and be a blessing.