Winning or Losing?

At any one time it takes a substantial amount of insight - beyond what we are capable of applying with our natural mind - to evaluate whether we are "winning or losing".

We all encounter challenges. We can be sure that the storms will come (Luke 6:46-49).

I'm thinking of the life of Joseph. What if he had stopped in the pit or the prison to determine his potential? Certainly he would have concluded that his life meant nothing and that he was a failure. Instead, with the passage of time, he was able to say to his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Genesis 50:20).

Or Paul and Silas in prison - all that commitment and zeal for God's work ending in the sludge of the prison depths...but they worshipped their way out of a mess.

Paul was able to write, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Joseph, Paul, Silas, others - they chose God's perspective. Their conditions didn't limit their perspective. Their future wasn't dependent on their circumstance.

When venturing out in God, pursuing His face and His purposes for our lives, we may not know if we are "winning or losing" by evaluating at any one time using the world's perspective, but we do know this...

We can have peace and rest knowing that He - the Greater One - is with us. We can have peace in the midst of uncertainty. He sees the end from the beginning.