I’m starting a new series this week called Pressing On… When You Feel Like Giving Up.
Today’s message is on “Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize.”
I’ve faced many setbacks in life: job loss, miscarriages, deaths of family and friends, sickness and surgery, broken relationships, and unmet expectations. Each setback has threatened to take me out… out of my life, out of my ministry, and sometimes out of my will to go on.
But each setback has also been a setup for some of my greatest ministry! God can turn our greatest miseries into our greatest ministries.
We all face losses all the time… whether in our jobs, our relationships, our health, our finances or hundreds of other “little” losses we experience along the way.
Thankfully, God also provides what we need in the face of those losses, whether it’s a friend, a family member, a counselor, or a special Word spoken directly from Him.
God wants us to press on. He’s given each of us special works to do. As the Bible says:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
My hope with this series is that it will help you carry on with the work God has called YOU to do. I’ll share ways that God has helped get me back on my feet… and more than that, to keep you moving forward, with purpose in spite of pain. And sometimes His purpose is revealed in our pain!
God really can turn our greatest tests into our greatest testimonies.
In this series, I’ll be interviewing people who have helped me through difficult times.
I’m starting today with an interview with a long-time friend, Al Lowry, who has come alongside me as a friend, a partner in ministry, and a member of my board of directors. You can watch our conversation here.
Al hails from Michigan, then ended up in Orange County, California, after riding his bike across the country when he was 21. He stopped when he hit the Pacific Ocean. Soon after he went to a startup church called Saddleback, came to Christ, and volunteered to help lead worship in their earliest days.
Al joins me today to talk about keeping our eyes on the real prize. This may be the most helpful video you watch all day!
P.S. Here are links we talk about in this video:
- My puppet movie: https://italianpuppets.com
- Al’s devotional book: https://alanlowry.com
Have a great week! Love,
Eric Elder writes for page, stage & screen to glorify God’s name so Christ may be seen! Use this link to subscribe or unsubscribe.
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