victory – Harold J. Ballinger

Once a mistake or failure is past you, move on. Focus on the next task at hand, and at giving it your absolute best. Consider what you might have learned for how you might improve and grow, so that your direction is looking forward not just looking back. Real life and real living comes with risks, challenges and momentary failures — but these are expected along the path to victory.

Life has taught me that my victory is assured — I just need to keep pressing forward instead of letting the past distract me. There is no victory in sitting still and looking back — we may do that on our dying day, and we should consider that a motivation to make today count. The victory is in refusing defeat in THIS moment, and pressing on.

Yesterday, I sat by myself at Ricky’s drive thru eating my hotdogs, deep in thought over the million choices and responsibilities that were running through my head. A young man approached me and asked if I could help him, and I checked my wallet almost mindlessly and saw that I had no money to give him. In fact, I began my reply to him without even coming out of my dazed condition — but I awoke from my daydreaming to see the opportunity to give him kindness and love. We went to the counter together and ordered him some food, exchanged names and I found out that he has a Muslim friend with a similar name as me. We laughed and shook hands and after a while went out own ways. I hope that I might get to talk with Floyd again sometime soon — his moment of need meeting with my ability to show him kindness was a special blessing that pulled me out of a lot of internal thinking to consider what I could actually DO at that moment to make a difference.

I share this because I can get stuck in a mindset that produces a lot of thinking, or even a lot of talking — but the DOING is what matters. Floyd and I were both facing challenges before our encounter, but he ACTED on asking for help, and I ACTED on what I could do. Together, we both helped each other in a wonderful way. He could have seen differences in my skin, clothes, etc. and assumed me an enemy (or I could have done the same), and we both would have missed out. We could have seen each other as opponents, trying to “get something” from each other — and we would have both missed it.

I wonder who I will get to play alongside in life’s tennis match today? I wonder how we will each get to enjoy points won (and points lost) as a part of that great victory we are living through. I wonder how many useless worries about challenges or failure will fall away to be replaced by a faith that victory is inevitable.

Psalms 37:23-40 NLT
The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.
Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.
The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.
Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever.
For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die.
The godly will possess the land and will live there forever.
The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.
They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.
The wicked wait in ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them.
But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.
Put your hope in the Lord. Travel steadily along his path. He will honor you by giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed.
I have seen wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
But when I looked again, they were gone! Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace. [38] But the rebellious will be destroyed; they have no future.
The Lord rescues the godly; he is their fortress in times of trouble.
The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in him.

December 5, 2023December 5, 2023

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Facing, not Avoiding

This is a challenging time for us. We have made commitments that stretch us thinner than usual and that challenge us daily, weekly and monthly in uncomfortable ways — yet we have made those commitments because we decided together as a family that they are worth it. Since making those commitments, we have faced many unexpected challenges that have tested our resolve and our commitment. And a few times when life has recently kicked us in the face, my wife has had to remind me or I have had to remind her that it is all going to be okay and that God is still in control. And I know that my daughter is seeing first hand how we handle these situations — that we aren’t always strong, that we don’t always get it right, that things can be stressful or scary, and that we don’t always trust God as faithfully as we should.

My daughter and I love riding Rollercoaster and thrill rides together. And some of the best rides are the ones that still scare us. Choosing to face that fear each time, knowing that there will be fear but that there will also be the thrill of a new experience together is fun within the safety of a ride designed and tested by skilled engineers and properly maintained by theme park operators. In a similar way, choosing to face fear in life offers an opportunity to experience life’s opportunities more abundantly — if we are confident and trusting that God is with us and will not abandon us.

In everything we do, there is a chance of failure — but even in failure there is an opportunity to learn, grow and improve. And there are other common fears of things like fear of abandonment, death, the unknown, physical harm, rejection, embarrassment/ humiliation, etc. But for each of these fears, we all deal with situations in life at some point that offer fear as an obstacle (or even fear as a choice).

Fear does not have to be our default setting. Or even if fear is our default setting or first reaction in a situation, we do not have to let it remain in control. Fear is not always irrational — we will all die, we will all fail, we will all be rejected — we must accept reality when it comes to these things. We will not always have a villain to name, and we will not always understand a clear reason behind why things happen a certain way.

For some good additional reading on fear, see this article: Identifying the Three Fundamental Fears: Death, Abandonment, and Failure by Jim Dubos https://stenzelclinical.com/identifying-the-three-fundamental-fears-death-abandonment-and-failure/#:~:text=Fear%20of%20the%20unknown%20is,Abandonment%20or%20Fear%20of%20Failure

Jim says about fear:

This is why God is not and never will be obsolete. He will never leave you, His love is not earned, and He has conquered death. Death, rejection, and failure will happen, but you do not have to live in fear of them.
Jim Dubos, Identifying the Three Fundamental Fears: Death, Abandonment, and Failure

What have we chosen today — choosing to our fears or facing them?

What have we not handed over to Him?

What areas of our lives and our challenges have we not trusted Him with fully?

Lord, forgive us for our lack of trust in you. Heal our foolish unbelief. Help us to be courageous and strong in you, especially not just in ourselves. Do not allow the enemy to steal from us by way of fear. May it be so clearly evident to all that it is foolish to not trust you, that you do not fail, and that you do not abandon. Amen.

‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31:6‬ ‭AMP‬
[6] Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble in dread before them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”

https://bible.com/bible/1588/deu.31.6.AMP

January 20, 2022January 20, 2022

hballinger2 Comments

Where’s your God now?

When we are in a deep dark place of hurt, it is quite natural to consider things like Job did:

The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God ignores their moaning.
Job 24:12 NLT

As I’ve watched the disease of Alzheimer’s steal from my grandmother for years. And as I watch parents lose their children. And as I watch the rich be frivolous with their money while children and widows suffer and starve in this world. And as I watch natural disasters bringing pain, death and destruction. And as I see families impacted by sickness, death, chronic illnesses, hunger, poverty, oppression, injustice, pain and suffering in this world. Who other than the cold hearted can ignore such things that are undeniably around us?

And when it hits close to you and affects someone that you love dearly — or even you personally — what does faith look like in this moments?

“Though You Slay Me” and “It Is Well With My Soul” are two of my favorite Christian songs. They don’t have the typical “raise your hands and bounce” of today’s Sunday morning mega-rave gatherings where “everything is health, wealth, and prosperity”. They speak to a season of suffering, of loss, of faith stretched beyond what can be endure by mere men to where we must rely on God alone — even in that moment where the question from the accuser screams inside our heads, “Where is your God now?”

It is in these places of suffering that idols are revealed and that the veil of this temporary place is torn back to reveal eternal and spiritual things to us. Imagine a child going to school and taking a test for the first time who is horribly afraid of a low grade on a standardized test — while a teacher’s goal is to determine where they can focus their time teaching to best fit the needs of the child for a rounded and comprehensive understanding of all objectives. Imagine a child experiencing an immersive virtual reality game for their first time and being truly terrified that they might fall to their death or be killed — while a loving parent assures them that there is nothing to fear. Imagine a hard working parent choosing to consistently sacrifice a few hours of sleep for years on end to obtain a degree that will open doors for them to better provide for their families.

It is easier for us to see both sides of the coin in the familiar situations that I described — where we must learn to trust that there is a greater purpose than what we can see and feel in the moment. But what about when life truly demands of us whether or not we believe that our God is faithful and true?

I’m not saying this so you’ll hide in the corner sobbing about how you’ve let God down yet again. Some very cold hearts that are far from God might need the ground to shake under their feet like that to wake them up — but you are here reading a Christian blog, so let’s skip past that trap of shame and get right to faith and trust.

Do you trust God in the hard places — because that’s going to be where you need Him most!

And when you’re in that truly hard place, it is going to feel like doubt and suffering — but it has the opportunity to be surrender and spiritual growth.

When everything cries out to us, “Where is your God now?” — we don’t have to win that argument.

When all evidence makes it look on the outside like the enemy is winning — we don’t have to win that battle.

When what lies ahead is clearly more than we can bear under our own power — we don’t have to speak to the burden.

Are there times that a student might feel like the teacher ignores their groanings about having to take a test — but the teacher isn’t truly ignoring them? Yes! Are there times when our not getting the answer we wanted in the moment we wanted it is good for us? Yes!

Lord, if going deeper was easy, everyone would rush to step out of the boat and walk upon the water. And if it was easy, those who stepped out wouldn’t sink and need your rescue. But this trusting in you isn’t so that our own strength can be put on display — but that our weaknesses can bring glory to you revealing your power. And trusting in you doesn’t profit our lives or the lives of others if it is just a one time statement of faith instead of a daily walk. Lord, for all these things, we need you. You are near and not far. You are here, and your victory is complete. You have called us by name, and we believe, we surrender, and we will trust you by the power of your Holy Spirit that you promise us. For the sake of your honor and glory and in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, we boldly come into the throne room of grace with these prayers. Amen.

August 24, 2021

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A, B or No

Have you ever had someone ask you if you’re this or you’re that — proposing a type of multiple choice question to you as if those are your only options — when your answer may not fit either of those options? Where they want you to confirm and show your support for either a simple answer of A or B, but the complexity of the situation may have you answering outside their question with a “No”?

The first thing that comes to mind is political parties. Yes, there are people that are die hard fanatics for a certain political party versus another and who will blindly follow whatever propaganda is fed to them by those handing out the manipulations and the agendas. But many rational, reasonable and wise people can see the corruption and wickedness on both sides of an issue. In fact, any judge with time on the bench will tell you that the true rarely lies exclusively on one side or the other side recalling of the events of a dispute, but it is most commonly found “somewhere in the middle”.

I love how Joshua 5:13-15 provides us with a wonderful picture of this type of interaction. Joshua encounters unexpectedly a man with a drawn sword and asks in a way — Are you A) for us or B) for our enemies? Expecting a confirming answer from this warrior…

Let’s stop right there for a moment, and let’s try to make this a little more real. Imagine you are about to go into your favorite football game between your team and their rival, and this impending moment is foremost and up front in your thoughts. You see another person within a block of the stadium carrying a football, but not wearing the colors of either team. And you ask, “Are you for the Clemson Tigers, or are you for the Alabama Crimson Tide?”

This more familiar situation might make the ego-centric nature of the question be revealed a little easier — because I’m not sure how many of us have commonly encountered unshielded men with drawn swords in our day to day lives (at least if we are talking physical reality and not metaphorically speaking). Can we see that the question of A or B in these situations imposes upon others that what is most important and familiar to us in a situation — most assuredly must be important to them as well.

We make these types of mistakes with other people constantly — labeling people as friend or foe when they are really just stranger or acquaintance, stereotyping and judging people wrongly, etc. And we also make these same types of mistakes about God.

How many of us fools pray “trying to get God on our side” of an issue or problem or challenge, and never talk to Him again until we need to place another order at the metaphorical drive-thru “have it my way” fast-food prayer line? Missing out altogether on who is God and who isn’t in this equation, and missing out on the work that prayer is meant to do within us more often than around us.

Some of these bratty children that I see demanding things from their parents, and some of these bratty adults that I see and hear demanding things from society and others, some of us in our wants and desires — need to hear a surprising “No”.

Some of us need to understand that our personal perspective may be blocked and hindered because we have been only considering A or B, me or them, etc. — when the right answer is “No” and our response is instead, “What does the Lord have to say to His servant?”

And when we reach this place of holy surrender, we aren’t just standing upon holy ground where we can stack up stones to create an altar or marker that others can see. We are establishing a point and time in our lifesong where a true miracle of correction, revelation, repentance and spiritual victory has been won. Amen.

What is grace, and why do I need it?

Search your heart and ask yourself if there are selfish, prideful things that you have done that benefitted yourself in the short term, but that have negative consequences – either unconsidered costs that you came to realize later, or costs to others that were not a concern to you at the time, or even the bad example that your life choices served for those little eyes around you watching to later replicate your actions.

Does your heart not cry out to you and press you to examine your life and to see a change? And have you not found that your imperfections, your flaws, your addictions – these unseen enemies within you that drag you along in chains into consequences that you would rather avoid – that they are strong and overcome you when you battle them alone?

You are not meant to make war on your own against these unseen enemies, man of flesh. You are not meant to accept defeat or to be content participating in war against your fellow brothers and sisters. You can know victory.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
John 1:12-13 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.1.12-13.NLT

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.3.16-17.NLT

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
John 4:13-14 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.4.13-14.NLT

The battle is not yours to win alone, but you can choose to be on the winning side. You can choose to bring positive impact and love and change to the world around you. You can live a life guided by the strength that overcomes. You can be alive to a renewed life in Christ, and freed from the slavery of your old life of sin.

I’m not selling you a religion, friend. I’m not convincing you to buy into a once a week religious practice. I’m not manipulating you to put part of your money into an offering plate, friend. I’m telling you that religion will send many to hell.

What I am telling you is that Christ can take hold of your whole life. He can live in you and through you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – and even more importantly, breath by breath, thought by thought, loving action by loving action. You can realize that everything that you have is a blessing rained down upon your life by the creator. You can realize what you deserve by your life’s works is nothing c short of hell, but that by His grace, He offers you nothing short of heaven, of being a born again Child of God.

We are not just men and women of flesh and blood, friends. Know your true self, know your true value in eternity as a Child of God. Cling to your right to become a Child of God. Seek first the Kingdom of God and those things eternal. See past the veil of this world’s lies and substitutions that have no glow at all beside the light of His grace and glory.

Know victory.
Know His grace.
Celebrate His Glory.