You’ve heard the story….the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise — though slow — is steady, and wins the race, as the saying goes.

It is fun to run your race during the times when you feel like the hare. Contrastingly, it can be much harder to run when you feel like the tortoise — when goals are slow to come and your dreams seem far away.

Social media like Facebook doesn’t help at all. If you’re not careful, they can really drum up the symptoms of “comparisonitis”, as my Pastor puts it. As the saying goes, you find yourself comparing your daily life to everyone else’s highlight reel. Live Science has studied how social media can actually be damaging to mental health for these reasons, and Forbes lists the true costs of time spent in these outlets as low self-esteem and poor body image.

All to say, whether you use facebook or not, sometimes you can really feel behind in life if you compare yourself to anyone else. That’s why it is so important not to do so. Psalm 139:14 says that you are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’, and that includes the plan that God handcrafted for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God ‘knows the plans He has for you’, and that they are GOOD! ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to bring you hope and a future.’ (NIV)

I’ve always endeavored to dream big dreams, and so many have come true in my life. I have also endured seasons in life where I felt behind. In another January several years ago, I wrote down some heartfelt goals for the next few years, and began looking expectantly for them to come to pass. Yet in the year to follow, even the beginning of those goals were no where to be found. What I had written down became a reminder to me of what had not been accomplished, rather than what had. I felt behind the mark of where I wanted to be in my life. As time passed, I even forgot about the goals I had written down with such ardor the months before.

My testimony to you today is that even when we forget, God never does. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful. I forgot about my dreams, but God didn’t. Everything I wrote down that January several years ago, God has brought to pass in the last few months of 2012. I won’t take too much time sharing with you all the specific goals I had, but they culminated in the dream of being in full-time ministry, and I now enter 2013 not only in full-time ministry myself, but working alongside my husband in that role. A dream come true. The goals I wrote down that January have been fulfilled, and this new role we are stepping into is more than I could’ve hoped.

God caught me up. Then He exceeded.

He will do the same thing for you.

My encouragement to you today is to stay faithful to God in the times that seem slow. Stay encouraged in His Word, satisfied in His presence, and trusting always in His goodness, mercy, and grace. You are not behind!! As your heart stays right and you have faith in God, He will make sure you are in the exactly the right place at the right time. Maybe you had to take a detour, or something is moving slower than it should, since our lives always involve other people who have to make choices as well. Wherever you are, you should never worry. God can and will always catch you up! It is not a difficult thing. Genesis 18:14 says, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’

God will do such a good job that you will never even remember you ever felt behind. The tortoise had moments that felt like defeat, but he won in the end. You will too, as you stay steady.

Rob and I have moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to begin our new job as Senior High Youth Ministers at Rhema Bible Church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are so excited to begin this new adventure, and are looking forward to 2013 with great anticipation.