Heroic Minute Heroic Men

We all have had to wait for something in our lives. Waiting requires patience and we typically only wait for things that we need or want. This is because our time is valuable and limited. We are not going to wait for something that we don't care about.

God also only waits for things He cares about, and He has been waiting for you to come to Him in prayer. Take time this week to go to God in prayer. Don't leave God waiting.

As men, we have a tendency to hide our pain from others. We like to show off a strong impervious armor to others when deep down we can be experiencing a tremendous amount of pain. 

Hiding our pain can even extend to hiding our pain from God. Pain ultimately creates vulnerability and that vulnerability can manifest in lies and other forms of sin. We can choose to be vulnerable with God or we can choose to be vulnerable to sin. 

It is up to us to search our souls and share our pain with God. Don't avoid your pain don't ignore your sin; face it head on bringing it to God in Confession and remember that you are not alone in your pain, God is right there with you.

We fight so hard to seek fulfillment in our lives. We pursue careers, money, fame, accolades and so many other activities that leave us empty. The reality is that there is one thing in our lives that we just can't replace, one thing that completes us in a way that nothing else will. That irreplaceable thing is God.

Why is God irreplaceable? Because God loves you in ways that even your spouse can't love you. God knows you better than anyone else, He knows your strengths and He knows your weaknesses. All of the things we hide from others, God knows them. He is the only one who completely and totally understands the person you are and still He loves you.

He loves you so greatly that He took all of your faults, all of your brokenness, and He claimed them as His own. He allowed Himself to be condemned beaten and killed so that you could see there isn't anything that He wouldn't do for you. God fulfills us because He is the one person that will never abandon you no matter what you do or who you are. All you have to do is claim Him the way He claims you.

We look for Jesus in churches, in prayer, and in scripture; but we can forget that Jesus presents Himself physically to us in the person right next to us.  We often see the worst in others and fail to see God Himself.

Slow down this week to consider every person you encounter this week, reflect on how you treat them? Would your interactions have changed if you saw them as Jesus Christ? It is never too late to do more for your neighbor.

People turn to God for all kinds of reasons. We usually turn to God when we are in need. God wants us to go to Him when we are in need, but God also wants more from us. Our prayer drives our relationship with God. God is not some magical genie that is only there to grant us our wish, God is our Father.

As our Father, God desires a relationship with you. Take time this week to consider your prayer life and your relationship with God. Are you making time in your prayer life to be with God, or are you only praying to get something from God? Find time this week to dwell with God. Listen to Him in your prayer and in scripture.

Hope can be an incredibly powerful motivator. It can keep you moving forward in the most desperate of situations. But if your hope is grounded in the wrong things it can spiral you into greater despair; particularly if you are betrayed by the people or things you hope in.

What do you hope for? Who are you placing your hope in? If the answer is not God, you are likely setting yourself up for a great deal of hurt. Are you placing the majority of your hope in yourself, others, business partners, friends, luck, worldly goals like financial success?

Take time this week to consider what you hope for and what you hope in. Ask God to help you hope in Him and the salvation offered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Heroic Minute with Jon Leonetti is presented by Heroic Men. Join us every week to discover simple ways that you can practice heroic faith and become the man that God created you to be. For more great content visit www.heroicmen.com.