OCTOBER 5, 2025

 “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.” 

― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

ISAIAH 31-33

1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule with justice.

2Each will be like a shelter from the wind,

a refuge from the storm,

like streams of water in a dry land,

like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

3Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will listen.

4The mind of the rash will know and understand,

and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently. (32:1-4)

PHILIPPIANS 1

3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

JOURNAL 

To live is to do.
Love is not passive...it moves, acts, and gives. Living well means following God wherever He leads, even when the path winds through struggle, confusion, or disappointment. The process matters to Him because we matter to Him. He understands my flaws, my hang-ups, and the ways I so often get it wrong. Yet, like a father watching his children or a coach guiding his players. He’s more interested in the journey than the immediate result.

Each day matters, but only in light of the larger story He’s writing. That’s the tension of faith: today is important, but it’s not ultimate. I’ll never perfectly balance that truth, which is why grace is so essential. God’s grace doesn’t excuse apathy, it invites perseverance. It calls me forward, pulling me closer to life and to Him. And in that pull, I grow: in understanding, in humility, and in trust.

That bigger perspective frees me from worry. It allows me to live and love fully, without reservation, because I know I’m part of something far greater than myself—a story that extends beyond my control but includes my effort.

So, what is success?
It isn’t ease, applause, or outcomes.
Success is relentless effort in spite of the result.
It’s the willingness to risk failure, to look foolish, to face adversity and keep pressing forward. It’s standing up again and again—each time with the same courage and fire that fueled the first step. It’s loving without condition, serving without recognition, and trusting that God sees what others cannot.

The writer of Hebrews describes this kind of faith with holy reverence:

HEBREWS 11:36–40
Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.
They went about destitute, persecuted, and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,
since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

God doesn’t ask me to achieve, He asks me to give.
He doesn’t call me to secure outcomes, He calls me to serve.
He doesn’t tell me to seek love, He tells me to offer it.

This is why the phrase “pound the rock” resonates so deeply.
Most days, our effort feels unseen, unrewarded, or wasted. But Scripture reminds us that faithfulness is never wasted. Each swing of the hammer, each act of obedience, love, and perseverance...echoes into eternity. We are joining a long line of those who kept believing when no visible reward appeared.

And so I keep going...not because I’ve seen the finish line, but because I trust the One who laid the foundation.

 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

GALATIANS 6:9