But

But….

Your progress will have no limits when you come along with me, and you will never stumble as you walk along the way.. Proverbs 4:12

So you've made the decision to begin, well at least in your heart you have. In your mind, you are hearing all the reasons not to move forward. So the question becomes, I'm ready to begin, how do I let go of the “but”?

But: an end or a limit. It is particularly used for the larger end of a thing.

How often, after we have made the decision in our hearts to begin, do we find ourselves saying, but?  Somehow instead of fixing our gaze on Christ, we find ourselves focusing on all the limits we have found to not be able to move forward. Let me give you an example.

The moment when I first realized that I wanted more than what I was currently getting out of life. I was tired of living life drinking, having meaningless sex and feeling empty. The light bulb went off at my friend's wedding when her pastor began reading 1 Corinthians 13. It was as if my heart was hearing what love was for the first time. I knew that something inside of me was changing, and I wanted to move, I wanted more of what my heart was feeling. My lifestyle was telling me I couldn’t move forward. So what do you do, when the but’s are screaming at a volume to where you can't hear your own heartbeat. You keep walking forward because Love is on the way. 

When you continue to press forward to being your journey towards the Love that comes from Christ. The but’s begin to fall off, they can’t stand the truth of who you have been called to be. The but's are limits that don’t hold a candle to the fire of the truth.

So as I continued to walk forward on my journey, that same friend told me her church was going to be meeting in the club I used to be a regular at and she was inviting me to come. So I showed up the first Sunday after they had moved into the building. I was so nervous, I had smoked the entire way there and was sure they would smell that on me. Yet, I had given my word that I would come, and I liked keeping my promises. So I put out my cigarette and walked to the doors. This is where I met resistance, I didn’t think those glass doors were going to open, but on the other side was a smile waiting to greet me. I went in, and I would like to say the rest is running through beautiful fields. It was work. It wasn’t until a few months later after a very memorable trip to Atlanta with a group of ladies I didn’t know. The way those ladies loved me, rough patches and all, I knew I had to know Him, and I ran to the altar. That is when all those but’s were left at the altar. And the journey continued to Love… I had to say yes, It is a choice we must each make to say yes to the journey that God has for us. 

Now here are a few questions that you can ask yourself as you move past the limits (buts) in your life.

1.  What are some thoughts that you have about starting that are limiting you taking a risk or holding you back from moving forward?

2.  What are some steps you can take to continue to move forward and leave the limits behind?

3.  Read 1 Corinthians 13.