We’ve Come This Far

It seems fitting that the Thanksgiving Holiday comes at the end of the year. Thanksgiving Day is the holiday when we pause and reflect on all of our manifold blessings. By the time we get to Thanksgiving Day we also discover that the year has almost come to an end. I’m sure we can all agree that we all have plenty to be thankful for. At the same time we can all agree that there were some things and some promises that we have been praying for and waiting for that may not have manifested . . . yet. What can we say then to these things?

I would like to encourage you with some words from two songs that come to mind. I’m sure we are all familiar with these two songs. One is “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” and the other is “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.” When I looked at the lyrics of these two songs, they both seemed appropriate for this time of year; this time of year, when we are counting our blessings.

In the first song, this lyric stands out, “We’ve come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord. Trusting in His holy word, He’s never failed me yet.” In other words, that means no turning back and no looking back. It means keep moving forward and keep the faith. It means don’t stop leaning on the Lord and don’t stop trusting in Him. It means that if I’ve made it this far, I can finish the race that is set before me. It means to forget those things that are behind and press towards the mark.

(Philippians 3:14)

The second song is similar in nature. “I don’t feel no ways tired. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy and I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.” I believe in order to not feel tired after going through something like a journey, a trial, a test, tribulation, etc., you must have strength down on the inside. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13) I believe to travel this road called life, that you were not promised would be easy, you must have faith down on the inside. A faith that will not shrink. For we walk by faith not by sight. (II Corinthians 5:7) I believe to know that God will never leave you, you must have His love down on the inside. I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3b)