The Path to Victory.

Alright, I'm going off the cuff here. (Sometimes it works… sometimes it doesn’t.) You know I’ll always keep it real! (EDIT: This is a faith infused message today- that's what it turned into.)

I’ve been thinking about this phrase for quite a while now- the path to victory.

(By the way, I say “off the cuff” because I’m just writing from my soul as we speak- no preplanned notes. So, let’s see what comes out together!)

So- the path. Actually, let’s rephrase that: The acceptance of victory.

When I first began this journey years ago, I remember standing in my living room (99% sure I had sweatpants and an old sweatshirt on- and yes, that version of Taylor chose to film anyway) and speaking about our path.

Specifically, I discussed fear and the illusory power it holds over us. 

If you’ve worked with me, been inside The Gathering, or attended one of my workshops, you know that I often discuss fear as an illusion.

How do we break it? By shining truth onto it.

This morning, I posed a big question to my community in The Gathering:

Many of us feel strong in our faith. We’re all at beautiful, different places with that. But- are the beliefs that come into your mind in alignment with that faith?

Okay, let’s sit with that one.

The “path” to victory is an acceptance of the already written truth. 

The already written truth comes from our all-knowing Creator, the author of all that is.

If we could deduce a few things, here's what we know so far about our lives:

• We will experience immense loss.

• We will experience immense joy.

• We will be pushed nearly to our limits.

• We will always be guided toward our highest potential or "best" choice.

Now, let's take note of that last one. This is a key observation. There is a gentle force guiding us towards the better choices at all times. I would argue that this IS the path to victory- or rather- the path divinely laid out before us that inevitably ends in victory.

Back to it.

As I stood in my apartment that day- yes, in those trusty sweatpants- I spoke about how our path is often laid out perfectly before us: clear, bright, and waiting for us to simply step forward.

However, we often start to hear whispers of fear from the bushes. Those bushes have a pretty enticing way of moving us off the path.

Depending on what we’ve experienced in our lives, those whispers may be loud or soft. Either way, we can be very susceptible to believing them.

So, we take a step off the path because we think it is "safe" there.

However… those whispers don’t stop. Before you know it, you feel like you’re miles off the path.

Now, fear not- for God can create and repair the path before you! Don’t ever be convinced that you’re “too far gone.” No.

Now, what is on the path? What does it “require”?

A reset.

Going back to basics. 

The blind faith we all had as kids as we navigated life, not knowing what would come, but somehow not caring. We simply were living. 

But, life does it. Heavy things happen, and we are forced to keep moving. It forces us to breakdown, but if you think about it, the breakdown to our knees is almost where we have to look up. Who do we often turn to when we’re in those moments?

God.

When we turn to God, what is one thing we see?

A divine victory ruling over all.

“Victory” would be defined as the act of defeating the enemy or opponent.

From a Christian lens, we see this through Christ.

Christ came down to defeat death, encouraging us to trust and believe in Him to receive eternal life.

One of the significant purposes of His coming was just that- the victory. In the opening lines of John, it states:

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Now, if we think logically about all of this, it kind of makes sense that God- the Creator- would establish the ultimate victory in this chess game, doesn’t it?

It would also make sense that the all-knowing God would, well, be all-knowing. If we think about it, what does that truly mean?

Nothing is outside of God’s awareness, for God is, in part, awareness itself. So all things can and will be used to steer towards God's ultimate and inevitable victory of all if we accept the truth that we come from a loving Creator.

While we all navigate the many difficult experiences of life, we can also consider the clear hand that has been alongside us the entire time- somehow lifting us from the darkness in the final hour. Consider the amount of times that you felt “too far gone” only to be shown…you’re not. You never were. 

How do we know? Well, you’re still reading this.

The path to victory.

So, in my off the cuff blog post today, I would argue that “the path to victory” is the acceptance of the divine victory, the invitation to walk forward on your path that has been created by an all loving Creator, and to finally turn away from the bushes that whispered only lies to you in the first place.

TLDR; your reset.

1. Identify those core fears and defeat them with truth.

2. Focus upon the good and meditate upon this. 

3. Identify your A to B, never A to Z. Every day, take that step. You will be pushed, but never into a space that you can't handle.

4. Breathe. 

   
   

All is well, and it will continue to be.