1 month later
Diamond
"In Ecclesiastes 9:11 Solomon tells us that the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches of men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill, but time and chance happen to them all" Bishop Tate spoke, "some may ask, well Bishop what does all of this mean? Well if we read further down in verse 12 it says For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them."
"Come on now!" Someone yelled in agreement.
"If we read our Bible we'll find that Solomon was one of the wisest men on the earth, his knowledge was supernatural that's why he didn't see things like everyone else did and even with that knowledge he still found hisself complaining about the futility of life and I'll be the first to say that I've been there before" Bishop Tate spoke, "why do I have to do right if bad things are still going to happen? Why should I fight against temptation when I can just do what makes my flesh feel good? I mean the questions are endless!"
"Let me break it down for those that are still trying to figure out where I'm going with this" he preached, "if you're still with me say Amen"
"Amen" the congregation said in unison.
"You see contrary to popular belief people make mistakes" he said and nobody said a word or made a noise.
"Crickets all around, just crickets" Bishop laughed causing some people in the congregation to laugh with him.
"I said people make mistakes" he said, "it's called being human."
"Amen!" The congregation agreed.
"Oh be quiet" he laughed causing us all to laugh again.
"Let's use a track star for example, one that wins every race: the 100- Meter, 200- Meter, The Mile, 110-Meter Hurdles, 4 x 100 Meter relay and the list goes on and on, they have been titled undefeated because they just don't lose" he spoke, "...until one day the runner is on their third and last race of the day. This race determines if they get the scholarship to their dream school, everything is on the line! Their confidence is up they know they're going to win this race, the coach, fellow classmates, everyone knows that this person is going to win this race but just before they reach that finish line they trip and face plant as all the runners continue to run past them and just like that-their winning streak is over!"
"Now this runner can respond in one of two ways. The first way is to throw in the towel and never run again and live with the thoughts of what if. What if I would've kept at it? What if I wouldn't have quit? Or they can get back up, finish the race."
"You better preach!" One of the mothers encouraged from the front pew.
"We run a race called life and as true believers we accept that bad things will happen because Jesus never promised us a life of perfection" he spoke, "bad things happen, let's be real! And when they do we could either trust in man and find ourselves back in the world: the world that's going to chew us up and spit us out or we could trust in God and His sovereignty because He is ultimately in charge of all outcomes."
"Amen!"
"Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Bishop preached, "you may fall but you make sure you get back up because God is not through with you yet! He desires to see us in Heaven but we have a duty to keep the faith and run this race because we've come too far to quit! People may laugh at you now but because you didn't quit God is going to bless you. Keep the faith family! Keep the faith!"
