(Prepared and Presented by T Letseli)

The title of our message this morning is: "Confronting Gigantic Challenges in Life." Our title is based on the 3rd chapter of Philippians, verses 13 and 14. The Apostle Paul said:

The title of our message today is "Confronting the Gigantic Challenges in life." Recently, I saw a poster with this engraving: "I am not afraid of TOMORROW, for I have seen YESTERDAY, and I love TODAY." I was impressed by that. I liked that inscription. I liked the positive, optimistic faith it contains. It fits well with the theme of our message today.

If you are going to really live life to the full,

If you are going to pack each day with accomplishments,

And rest each night in the quiet confidence of success,

If you are going to experience the real joy of living,

You cannot afford to face tomorrow with FEAR.

Neither can you carry around a load of guilt, and remorse from YESTERDAY.

And you certainly cannot live with a dread of TODAY.

To live as long as we are alive, we must learn to face the Gigantic Challenges of life. Our Vision must exceed our grasp. There must be another mountain to climb, another Frontier to explore, a new Goal to reach.

Some of us feel that we have achieved so much. That we have reached the ceiling of success, and the ceiling of ourselves. Some give up before they even try. Some fail to keep on keeping on. Some lack the stamina which is necessary essential before success can be realised. Science and Technology have placed the moon within our reach. We know what lies beyond that next mountain, or around the next bend. We don't stand on the shore and wonder what's out there anymore. We have crossed the fathomless oceans. We have placed our footprints on the dust of the moon.

There are no expeditions anymore. Yet, friends, we still need Gigantic Challenges. Life cannot be a series of sunrises and sunsets. Life cannot be sandwiched between weekends and workdays. There must be something in between, which gives each day meaning and purpose. There are so many people for whom life is nothing but a travail, a long weary existence, without any joy, and without any sense of accomplishment.

They drag from one dreary day to the next, just waiting for the misery to end. Their work is a necessary evil, simply a means to an end. And to escape the suffocating boredom of routine, they have immersed themselves in the pursuit of pleasure. Friends, many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself a slave to it. Their working week is squeezed between weekends, which stands like bookends holding everything together. Friends, our lives are fragile, we need to handle them with prayer.

Friends, a cure for boredom is curiosity. And there is no cure for curiosity. Curiosity invites challenges. Friends,

It is when the game is hardest,

That you get your finest sport!

There's no joy in easy battles,

And no Victory in a game that

is won without a struggle,

And in life, it is just the same!

It is when the going is heavy,

And the pull is uphill,

And you get your finest thrill!

Our key text (Phil. 3:13, 14) highlights three Gigantic Challenges:

1. A Challenge of a Forgotten Past.

2. A Challenge of a Fearless Tomorrow.

1. First of all there is A CHALLENGE OF A FORGOTTEN PAST. We have seen yesterday. It holds no surprises for us. Whatever happened happened, and no matter how much we might have winced in anticipation of it, or how much we have lived in dread of its approach, regardless of colossal blunders we might have made of it, it is now past, and we have lived through it.

The good, the pleasant, the desirable, those things that leave us with a sense of accomplishment, have given us something to remember with joy. Something to hold to with dignity. In fact, Success is our birthright. On the other hand, the difficult, the unpleasant, the troublesome have helped us to learn, to grow and be strong. Success comes from mastering defeat. Make chariot wheels out of your difficulties, and ride to success. Ninety-nine percent of success is built on former failure. Friends, it is up to us to make Failure our weight, or to make it our wings.

We cannot go back and change our past. We cannot reorder or relive yesterday. It is a waste of our tears to cry over the spilled milk. Nothing is accomplished by the futile wishing that we could live our lives over again. Where we have failed, we must recognise our failure with "a broken and contrite heart." The Bible says, "A broken and contrite heart, God will not despise." In fact, someone has said: "Failure is not a person, but an event."  Let us not kill time by worrying about our past failures. Remember: "Don't kill time, it has no resurrection."

We have stumbled and fallen, we must put up a marker, to remind ourselves to be cautious at that point next time. We must seek forgiveness. And when we know that God has forgiven us, we can also forgive ourselves, we can forget those things which are behind.

As far as God is concerned, Forgiven sin is forgotten sin.

What a grand world this would be, if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings.

Friends, Where we have been successful, we dare not allow even a glimmer of pride to get into our minds, because we know that there are trials still before us. We are constantly reminded that "No Victory is final, and no defeat is Fatal." (Pause)

Yesterday came and passed, and we can forget those things which are behind.

2. And secondly, there is A CHALLENGE OF A FEARLESS TOMORROW.

"I do not fear tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday." "Do not worry about tomorrow," Jesus cautioned, "for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Therefore...do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?... Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ... Your heavenly father knows that you need these things, but seek ye first his kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:25-34, NIV).

I am reminded of the old song, based on that passage of Scriptures. The song goes,

I don't know about TOMORROW

I just live from day to day;

I don't borrow from its sunshine,

For its skies may turn to grey;

I don't worry over the FUTURE,

For I know what Jesus said,

And Today I'll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead

The chorus reads:

Many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand,

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow,

It may bring me poverty;

But the one who feeds the sparrow,

Is the one who stands by me;

And the path that be my portion,

May be through the flame or flood,

But his presence goes before me,

And I'm covered with His blood.

Again the chorus reads:

Many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand,

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

Friends, much of the burden we carry from day to day, is either the burden of yesterday, that should have been forgotten, or the unnecessary burden of tomorrow which should not have been picked up yet. We cannot live today with strength and vitality, if all of our energy is wasted on yesterday and tomorrow. There are two days we should not worry about - Yesterday and Tomorrow.

3. Finally, there is the CHALLENGE OF A FOCUSED PRESENT. "I love today," the plaque said, "I have seen Yesterday, I do not fear tomorrow, I love Today." In reality, today is the only day that we have. In fact: "Today is the tomorrow we worried about Yesterday."

Yesterday is past, and we can't recall it. Tomorrow hasn't arrived, and we can't claim it. But today is here. This is the moment. We can't afford to postpone it.

One of the key words of the New Testament is NOW. "For now is the accepted time," the Holy Communication says. "Today if you will hear His voice - harden not your hearts." (Heb. 3:7).

Jesus said to Zacchaeus: "Today salvation has come to this house..." (Lk. 19:9). God lives in the Eternal Present. In fact, The Name of God is not "I Was," It is not "I Will," but He is "I AM." "I AM" is eternal. There is no time when "I AM" is not present.

This is our moment. Let us make the most out of it.

Now notice this, Paul had a definite focus on today. He says: "This one thing I do." Paul had discovered that the secret of success was constancy of purpose. Paul had sorted through all of the options that had presented themselves, and had selected the one which seemed most important to him. He says: "Forgetting the things that are behind (Yesterday, together with her failures and victories), and reaching for the things that are still ahead" (Today, together with her opportunities and gigantic challenges). Paul had a goal/challenge that was set before him, and every energy was spent in that one thing.

I ask you, "Is there a challenge in your life?" "Do you know where you are going?" "Are you just EXISTING or are you LIVING?" There is a difference between EXISTING and LIVING. The dead do EXIST, but they don’t LIVE. EXISTENCE has to do with occupying space – being there - the thereness, but LIVING has to do with moving, evaluating, sifting, choosing, deciding, doing, achieving and evaluating.

It has been said: "The world makes way for a man [may I add – for a woman] who knows where she’s/he's going." Do you know where you are going? Do you have a definite goal and purpose? Are there any new worlds for you to conquer? Is there an unexplored frontier calling you to new adventures? Or have you already reached the limits of your vision? Friends, without a challenge life is bound to be dull and boring, and dreary.

Most people drift through life, carrying the guilt of a sinful past, facing the fear of an unknown future, and filled with bitterness about a meaningless present.

But Only those - but only those who have found the secret of abundant life in Christ can face the future unafraid.