It would be easy to slip back into what had become everyday life.

Settling is a dangerous trap for those on the path to change. Now is not the time to be satisfied with media attention or acknowledgement from those in authority. Now is the perfect time to renew your energies and press forward! What is in reach is so much better than what is in hand.

When I was a child, one of my mother’s biggest pet peeves was being disrupted while she was cooking in the kitchen. She’d say things like, “You didn’t want anything in this kitchen until I came in here!” She was right. I remember my siblings and I sneaking in and swiping some of the already cooked food. It smelled so good and we just couldn’t wait.

James 1:2-4 says:

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

 

What was taken was good, but the full meal was so much better. God has called us to push through. What we settle for can be good, but if we can push through – forward – together, what is waiting is so much better. Yes, victories have been won and we can collectively celebrate, however, let’s not settle. Let perseverance finish its work! Let us commit to persevere as a collective force for change.

Joy and strife can coexist. In this struggle, celebrate the change you see. Support the people responding to the call for change. Find ways to participate, nothing is too small.

Onward.

Forward.

Upward.

We must keep moving.

Defeat can be found in stagnation, but God is in the momentum.