We live in tough times. The global pandemic hit many people really hard. Isolation, job losses, the fragmentation of support groups and families, lockdowns . . . it was a tough time for many people. But on the other side of that crisis, we find ourselves in some comparatively tough times with interest rates rising many times and the cost of everything seems to have increased way beyond any income increases. Many people are doing it tough – some, really tough.

I don’t want to sound trite or offer a cliché when I say this, but there are three words we all need to really embrace in tough times: keep pressing on.

Life is a fragile gift that is often unfair, frequently unpredictable, and mostly uphill.

The journey requires faith, courage, and determination.

There will be moments when your commitment will be challenged and your motivation will waver.

When you are tempted to give up or give in, keep pressing on!

When life throws you a curve ball and the unexpected happens, keep pressing on!

When you have a bad case of the blues or you are suffering deep down depression, keep pressing on!

When you get angry at the incompetence of a neighbour or colleague, keep pressing on!

When you are at the foot of the mountain about to begin the uphill journey of recovery, keep pressing on!

When you are at the beginning of the treatment regimen, one that suppresses your appetite and oppresses your spirit, keep pressing on!

When you are tired of being tired, and sick of people being sick, keep pressing on!

When your friends are difficult to deal with or your family is difficult to live with, keep pressing on!

When you move to a new town or begin at a new school, and you are the stranger, keep pressing on!

When you feel lonely and isolated, even in a crowd, keep pressing on!

When the news is filled with gloom and doom, keep pressing on!

When your workplace is dominated by chaos or conflict, keep pressing on!

When you are tempted to settle for mediocrity, or on the verge of losing your integrity, keep pressing on!

When death or disease takes away someone you love, in the power of the Spirit, keep pressing on!

Putting the past behind us and the future before us, let us keep pressing on toward higher ground!

Philippians 3:13-14  “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”