AUGUST 2, 2025

  “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” 

― John Wooden

"Don't blink, just like that your six years old and you take a nap...trust me, friend, a hundred years goes faster than you think, so don't blink..."

- Kenny Chesney

PSALM 68-69

 32The poor will see and be glad—

you who seek God, may your hearts live!

33The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people. (69:32-33)

ROMANS 3

21But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

JOURNAL 

Some songs hit like a time machine. Kenny Chesney’s “Don’t Blink” has always done that for me. I can still see the heat rising off the field during those late summer two a days, the ache in my legs, the smell of cut grass. And then, somehow, I blinked and decades flew by. The years that once felt slow now seem to be sprinting. The truth is, the next ten, twenty, even fifty years could pass just as quickly. God willing, I’ll be here to see them.

Scripture reminds me this morning that the real miracle isn't in how much we accomplish but in the grace we receive. “There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24) It’s not the strength of our performance that secures our worth. It’s faith. Faith that even our weakest offerings can be made holy by a God who sees the heart.

John Wooden once said, “Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” That kind of success, the kind rooted in faithfulness rather than perfection, is what I long for. A life where each day, each conversation, each act of love, is a small brushstroke in a story so much bigger than me. A life not lived in fear of failure but in the security that comes from being justified by grace.

Psalm 69 says, “The poor will see and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts live. The Lord hears the needy and does not despise His captive people.” That’s the invitation—to live with hearts awake and alive, knowing He sees us, hears us, and receives even our most feeble attempts with mercy.

So I pray I won’t waste these moments. I don’t want to be ruled by fear, bitterness, or the chase for someone else's version of success. I want to be fully present. I want to give the best of me to the people I love, to the work I’ve been entrusted with, and to the God who has already declared me righteous, not because I’ve earned it but because I believe.

And one day, whether it is tomorrow or fifty years from now, I believe He’ll meet me not with a scorecard but with arms wide open. That’s the wonder of grace. That’s the beauty of the story I’m living in.

“By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:16)
Let that fruit be joy. Let it be courage. Let it be love.

 16By their fruit you will recognize them. 

MATTHEW 7:16