My knee hurts today. Badly, actually. I noticed it was tender as I went up & down steps over the weekend, but didn't think much about why. Yesterday, though, it became a nuisance knee. It hurts bad enough that I debated with myself for about ten seconds in favor of not walking at all this morning, and after the bossy, know-it-all, disciplined part of me won that debate, I got up at 5:45, got myself geared up, and headed into town like I do five days a week now for the 1.35+ mile walk around Lake DeFuniak. [aside...I had to ask the Lord to guide my feet as I walked and to keep me from stepping the wrong way so I didn't fall. I have tripped & fallen on flat surfaces before, so there's that. No one's ever called me "Grace."]
Lake DeFuniak is one of two almost perfectly & naturally round spring-fed lakes in the world. When the water isn't as high as it presently is, you can see and use the sidewalk that goes all the way around the water's edge, measuring about 9/10s of a mile. The top of Lake DeFuniak on Circle Drive, which is where I and most others walk, has sidewalks in front of beautiful old historical homes and buildings, many dating back more than a century. I have a point of no return on my walk everyday. It started years ago when I began walking the route I do now and I would try to talk myself out of walking. Anyway, my point of no return is literally the corner of Plateau Avenue and Circle Drive. When I walked to that point I would give myself the option of turning back to where I began walking or continuing walking.
As I walked hobbled on this hurting knee this morning I thought about turning back, seriously... Why do more damage to this cranky, old knee? Then I thought about what giving up like that will do to me in the long-run. I thought about wanting to give up tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and then the day after that. I cannot do that anymore; I cannot have that mindset. We all reach a point when we must stop giving up. A point in our lifelong song when we must refuse to listen to the enemy as he taunts us through our physical aches and pains, through others' mocking words and side-glances, through our own insecurities.
In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful." (2 Timothy 4:7 NLT) Like Paul, I have to fight and press on daily, run this race called life daily, and remain faithful to who & what I know to be right and true and just daily. That's why I have Plateau Avenue & Circle Drive as my point of no return. When I make it that far I'm encouraged to continue walking...to keep on keepin' on, to use an old, worn-out cliche, to fight that voice who says "turn back, it's too hard...it's too far...it's too hot...it's too cold...it's too rainy," and to finish this early morning race. I can honor God by being faithful in that race.
I've found my Plateau Avenue. Let me ask this of you, at what point in your life will you begin to refuse to give up and begin to refuse to give in to the lies of the enemy?
Who/What/When/Where is your Plateau Avenue?
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So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. (Galatians 6:9 NLT) |
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