As we move our attention to starting another new year, we often find ourselves asking questions like, “What can I expect in the coming year?” or “How can I achieve my goals in 2010?”
You’ve heard the quote, “To achieve something you’ve never achieved, you have to do something you’ve never done.” To live a life of purpose, you have to live intentionally. You have to know where you’re going and stay on that path.
In Paula Fox’s book,The Second Mile, we learn that everyone can live with purpose and a promise of victory in the new year. This book also helps answer the questions I raised earlier…and perhaps the answers are simpler than we think.
As you start the new year, remember that God is right beside you. He has already walked a Second Mile for you and if you let Him, He will develop you into a Second Mile person!
Below is an excerpt from The Second Mile. Enjoy!
Anticipating great things ahead in 2010!
An Excerpt from The Second Mile: “The Second Mile…Is a Promise of Victory“
“He gives us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ…
So stand strong…Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.
(I Corinthians 15:57-58 NCV)
On the wall in front of my treadmill hangs a beautiful poster entitled VICTORY. It’s a picture of a group of sailboats racing on the water, with their colorful sails billowing in the wind. The caption beneath it reads… “You can’t control the winds. The race can only be won if you have the ability to adjust your sails.”
I love this daily reminder
that victorious living is all about making the right choices… We can’t always control the circumstances in our lives, but we can control how we choose to respond to them…
We can choose to be a “victim” and feel sorry for ourselves… or we can make the empowering decision to be a “victor” as we adjust our sails and go the Second Mile… “Let us throw off everything that hinders us…and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV) We can choose God’s promise of “VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
An inspiring story of a Second Mile victory is the true life adventure of Pete Goss, an expert yachtsman whose dream was to win a solo, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race. His extraordinary story of triumph over adversity is told in his book, Close to the Wind.
Over a period of ten years, he made many personal sacrifices in order to achieve his dream, including selling his house and his car to help finance and build his boat, the Aqua Quorum. Finally, on November 3,1996, he set sail in the race of his life, the Vendee Globe.
He was doing well in the race, overcoming incredible challenges and dangers, and managing high winds with waves as high as six-story buildings. Then, a third of the way through the race, his radio picked up a message that 160 miles away, one of his competitors was in desperate trouble and needed help. At this point, Goss made the heroic decision to give up his chance of winning the race, “adjust his sails” and go the Second Mile.
He turned his small craft into a deadly hurricane in an attempt to find and rescue this man he barely knew… a stranger lost on a life raft somewhere in the midst of a vast ocean. Somehow, unbelievably, he managed to rescue the man and was able to complete the race. When he finally reached the finish line, he was welcomed home by a crowd of 150,000 people who had gathered “to cheer not the race’s winner but its hero!”
Pete Goss came in fifth, but he won the VICTORY by going the Second Mile!
Real VICTORY is not about winning races… It’s about living a life of significance. When faced with the choice of whether or not to give up his dream and attempt a dangerous life-threatening rescue, Pete Goss said, “I had to go, I knew that. It was that simple… When someone is in trouble… you help.” He was committed to Second Mile living.
Watch the inspirational short movie, The Second Mile. Pay it forward and share this with your friends and family. It’s a perfect way to encourage others or yourself!
Inspired Faith
