Not Already Perfected, But We Press On
Press on – No two words have impacted my life, calling, and ministry more than these two words. Our brother, Paul spoke those words in Philippians 3:12.
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on,
that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has also laid hold of me.
Philippians 3:12
Eighteen years ago, God called me to ministry. I gladly accepted the calling out of true love for God and a deep devotion to Him because of all that He had done for me. When I accepted the call to ministry, I had no idea what it meant to be called, I just knew He called me. My calling was such an encounter with God, that I could not dismiss it or ignore it.
Once I had that encounter with God, for the next 3 months, I daily said the words of Isaiah the prophet, “Send me, I will go.”
My Ministry Path
God began to lay the path out before me. I walked it out, one day at a time and one step at a time. That first year of following Jesus in ministry was as exciting and full as life can be. I loved every minute of it. My passion for Christ inspired me to keep going, doing, serving in every capacity that came available to me.
I was God’s “Yes Girl” because I had no idea what He had called me to do, so I said, “Yes” to everything that came my way.
Then God threw a problem that you might call an obstacle on my path of ministry. The problem ended up with me in a very hurt and broken state. I could not understand what God was doing. I had done everything He wanted me to. And, everything that I did was with my whole heart. When I tell you, I went all in with Jesus, I went all in.
I quit my job, enrolled in Seminary, and this mother of three daughters, served my family, my Jesus, and women at my church with deep passion.
When God threw in this obstacle on my path, I did a spiritual face plant on that path. It was the kind of fall, where your knees are skinned and bloody, your face is bruised and dirty, and you just want someone to help you and comfort you. The problem was, for a season, there was no comfort to be found. I was broken and felt alone and not understood. However, through it all, I continually felt God nudge me forward and whisper the words, “Press on”.
So, Press on is what I did.
After that painful fall, life looked different for me because everything had changed.
During the next few months, I wrote my first Bible study, Quest For Wholeness: Healing The Broken. Once I finished writing the study, I realized that I had wrote the process and journey of my own spiritual healing.
When I think back to that painful season of life when God allowed an obstacle that tripped me up on my path in ministry, I see it through such different eyes now. Then, I thought God was not pleased with me, that I had somehow disqualified myself in ministry. Now I see The Exceeding Greatness of God’s Power. God used that obstacle to get me on my true path and God’s intended calling for my life. Consequently, my ministry focuses on leading and teaching Christian women to grow in their relationship with Jesus and to study God’s word.
Press on became my moto in ministry.
For a least one decade, every year I would pray and ask God to give me a word for the year, and it was always the same, press on.
The word, press on in the original Greek language is transliterated as dioko. The word means running after and the definition expresses a lot of words of passion in its explanation. Adjectives like swiftly, eagerly, earnestly are used to describe what press on looks like.
My journey with Jesus and following Him in my calling has been a series of seasons where I pressed on. So much so that the words press on became my battle cry. I deeply rooted those words in my heart and mind. And to this day, God stirs me up and fans the flames of my passion and my calling with His whisper.
Press on Pat!
I love those words and I felt like some of you needed to hear them. Maybe you are in a season where you feel like you are trudging through quick sand. Or possibly you feel like God has thrown an insurmountable obstacle onto your path in the midst of your journey with Him. Your knees are skinned and bloody, your face bruised and dirty, and you need someone to help you and comfort you.
Well dear sister, you are the one I am talking to today. God wants You to know, He sees your wounds and hears your cries. And while you cannot see it with your physical eyes, He is working on your behalf. He brought your situation into your life to shape your future and give you the best life.
Finally, He sent me to speak words of comfort assuring you of His good plans for you and to say, “My dear one, Press on. We are not there yet. Press on to attain all that I have for you. Press on, because perfection is your destiny.
