A Good Run Will Clear Your Head

Went for a run today - it's beautiful outside today after all the rain we've had.  While I was running I was thinking and praying as I often do... in between the cries of pain.  I was thinking about some of the mistakes I've made recently.  Financial mistakes.  Interpersonal mistakes.  Leadership mistakes.  I was just thinking that I hoped God could forgive me and help me not make them in the future.  I was feeling a little bad about it because the mistakes we make always have consequences and most of the time we would rather not have to endure those.  Anyway, while I was running the Holy Spirit spoke a verse to my heart.

God works all things together for good, to those who love Him and all called according to His purpose.

I had to ask myself a question.  Do I believe in God and what the Bible says or not?  If I don't really believe it then I could just by-pass that passage and go on to something else and continue asking God to forgive and help.  If I DO believe then I must trust that God spoke that verse into existence and that He meant it.

Since I do believe the Bible is God's Word to mankind I have to adjust m life to His Word, not the other way around.  God works ALL things together for good.  So here's what I was thinking...

• God works.  He is always working.  He has never stopped working since creations fall.  He is working to reconcile mankind to Himself through Jesus Christ.  He is forgiving. Merciful.  Just. And Loving beyond measure.  And He works.  Always.
• All Things are under His control.  God is not limited to my successes.  He can work through my failures as well.  If the only thing God could was take good and make it better He would have a LOT of free time on His hands.  The Bible says that there is no one good - not even one.  And I mess up WAY more than  I succeed.  But God is not limited.  He works through the things I do well and the things I totally bomb!  He can work ALL things.  Good, bad and ugly.
• He works all things for the good.  God is not sitting in heaven keeping track of my failures and counting them against me so that He can watch me suffer through the consequences.  He is constantly working in my life and yours to bring about the best good for His Kingdom and for us through our triumphs and our tragedies.  He is never working for evil in our lives, He is ALWAYS working for good.

I got home feeling much better.  A good run will clear your head and help you to think about things you'd forgotten or maybe never realized.  With a clear head the Holy Spirit can speak directly to your need.  I needed to be reminded that it's not about me, it's about Him.  What He's doing and what He wants.  

God is always working in and through and around my life in the positive things that happen and the negative things to bring about His ultimate good.  I can trust that my successes He can use. I can trust that my failures He can use just as well.  And because I love Him He has a plan and purpose for my life that is not sidetracked by failures but only by my lack of trust and faith.

Thank You God for being a limitless God who is always working in my life AND in every other life.