"Do You Know When to Pass the Baton?"

It's super cool that the apostle Paul lived during the time of the Olympics. There is evidence in Scripture showing that he may have been referencing these very games, which still exist and have now gone global, as he gave a charge to Believers:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." (1 Corinthians 9:24)

Today, Beloved, let's look at your role as a runner in the Olympics of your life. There's no way you can lose (unless you don't show up). There's a gold medal with your name on it – if you choose to go with God and go for the gold.

What Lap Are You On?

Regardless of your age, the lap you're running in the race of your own life matters. It's so easy to look at the different ages and stages of our lives and discount them with thoughts of "Well, I'm just a kid. What I think or do doesn't matter," "Well, I'm just busy raising my family. What I think or do doesn't matter," "Well, my kids are grown, and I'm starting to feel irrelevant. What I think or do doesn't matter," or "Well, I'm in my golden years and I don't feel well. What I think or do doesn't matter."

Somebody hit the "Wrong Answer" buzzer!

Every day you have on this earth counts and matters. The reason why is because the Father ordained each one of them and they're written in His book, which is your destiny book (Psalm 139:16).

Amazing, Valuable and Rare

Do you understand how amazing, valuable and rare you are? Millions of people through the centuries, and millions more in the last 50 years, have died from disease, war, conflict and abortion. That significantly narrows the playing field. The fact that you are alive today is miraculous.

The Father has plans for your life UNTIL THE DAY YOU PASS ON TO HEAVEN, and it is imperative for you to embrace this. It's imperative not just for you, but for the world, because you have missions and assignments to complete.

What You're Hoping For and When

It's true that you may not see the reality of what you're hoping for, or what you desired when you were younger, on this side of eternity. Abraham did not. He died without seeing his descendants as numerous as the stars and sand during his life on Earth. However, he can now see them from Heaven's portal (Hebrews 11:39-12:1).

If you identify in your spirit with Abraham's reality, it's fine to reconcile there. In the face of that reality, it's super important that you continue on with each day, full throttle. Full throttle includes care for your spirit, soul and body that is healthy and age appropriate, but with whole-hearted devotion to the Father and to embracing "the one thing" (or more!) that He has for you each day.

On the other hand, you may see incredibly more than what you're anticipating based on the rate you've been going. For instance, after hundreds of years of slavery, in one day, Israel walked free. It's extremely important to not settle for a smaller outcome based on the slowness of the past because, with the Father, a nation can change or emerge in one day (Isaiah 66:7-9). If a nation can be freed or born in one day – and it has – how much more your life and what you're hoping for?

When to Pass the Baton

There's been a good move that I've witnessed in godly Baby Boomers. It's passing the baton. Many in this generation have been keenly aware that it's necessary to shift from their leadership position (be that in family or ministry) – from front seat to side and back seats – in order to allow their heir apparent to step forward.

I believe they've been moved by the Father to do this righteous "passing the baton" movement; this is what Jesus did. He constantly taught, empowered, nurtured, and then sent out His disciples. He never subscribed to an old-school thought pattern that He alone should sail the ship until He died. He kept moving His team forward, step by step, as He stood back. This prepared them to launch forward GLOBALLY only 50 days after His death.

However, on the flip side, please be fully cognizant to the fact that your baton is not fully passed until the day you step into a chariot, like Elijah, and exit this earth.

I believe this means that it's imperative to future generations, and to your assignment that is eternal, for you to remain fully engaged (in both an age and health appropriate manner, and with self-care involved), even in the midst of transitioning yourself and your successor(s), until the day you pass on.

Eternal Assignments

Your mission and assignments are eternal. Like Jesus, you came from the Father, you run your race, and you return to Him.

In Heaven, Jesus is still interceding. Yes, He finished His race and His work. Yet Scripture says, "...It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Romans 8:34 KJV).

Like Jesus, we'll join Heaven's intercession for our eternal missions and assignments which are being carried on by the next generation (physical and/or spiritual) after our exit. When we stand before Christ's seat of judgment as Believers, we'll receive our reward. There's nothing that can be added to our building (based on our personhood or our life's investment) at that point.

I'm telling you plainly, you have had to carry greater loads because those who went before you were not able to complete their assignments, or gave in to the psychological warfare that their days no longer mattered when, in fact, they did.

Today, you have the opportunity to adjust and re-create the future. Open your eyes to the truth in love that every day counts, that every day you are accomplishing something of eternal value from your destiny book, and that every day is an opportunity to complete something important that the next generation will not have to carry.

This will increase your reward and joy once you step off your heavenly chariot and meet the Lord Jesus Christ. It will ripple through the earth, as you've given your best by embracing each day as important for the next generation. By embracing this truth whole-heartedly, today, you are changing the course of the future. You are changing the world.

Your Final Prayer

Henry VIII is known most famously on Earth for his six marriages and his instigation of the Reformation in England. What's not as widely known is why and how. In Heaven, William Tyndale is honored as the one who commenced the Reformation in England. His only crime being the work to translate the Bible, Tyndale suffered betrayal and death at the stake. As he died, John Foxe (Foxe's Book of Martyrs) quoted his final prayer, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes!"

As a result of that magnificent, final prayer, the Father granted Henry VIII's desire for a son, Edward VI, for whom Henry VIII employed Protestant tutors who seized the opportunity to train the young prince in matters of the Word and Spirit.

Edward VI ruled only a few years until his death as a teenager – yet he reformed England, giving great room for and legal protection of freedom of religion.

Stephen's final prayer as he died yielded the apostle Paul – who evangelized much of the known world and bequeathed the majority of the New Testament to us. Jesus' final prayer opened the path for complete restoration of the people, the world and all that is in it back to the Father as the triumphant second Adam.

Make Your Final Prayers Count

How can we make our prayers count?

Embrace this truth: Every day of your life matters. It builds until your final prayer as you exit this earth. It creates the level of joy and reward you'll experience in Heaven. It yields a legacy of grace and empowerment for all who come behind you. It gives you access to co-labor (without the toil!) with the Lord Jesus Christ as you stand with Him in the great cloud of witnesses.

My Prayer For You

"Father, I thank You for the lives of every person reading this. Renew their youth, Father! Satisfy their desires with good things. Imbue them with Your flowing and energizing life by the power of the Holy Spirit and flow of the river of water of life within.

"Restore their hope. Comfort their hearts. Encourage them with mighty courage and great grace. Give them grace and direct leadership from the Holy Spirit on what steps to take with the shifting gears and raising up the next generation of leaders (in physical and/or spiritual families), while still making progress every day on their own race until the final day of their lives, when their baton is completely passed.

"Impress on their hearts and remind them that every day of their lives matters, that it builds until their final prayer as they exit this earth, that it creates the level of joy and reward they'll experience in Heaven, that it leaves a legacy of grace and empowerment for those who come afterward, and that it gives them privileged access to the Lord who's still on intercession duty in Heaven.

"Keep them energized by the power of the Holy Spirit – grant them focus. Empower them to go with God and go for the gold in the race of their lives. Do much more in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen."

Crystal Wade
Hope Streams 
Email: contact@hopestreams.net
Website: www.hopestreams.net

Crystal Wade writes to throw out a lifeline of hope for people to receive connectivity to trust the Father and be internally aligned to relate to Him, and thus receive His relationship and the blessings that naturally flow from Him. She is managing editor of Hope Streams.net. Crystal and her husband Stephen received a commission from the Father to connect the generations to Him and to each other so that they can: Start well. Live well. Recover well. Build well. Finish well. As part of that commission, they release materials to assist people of all ages in connecting to The Perfect Parent. The couple carries the Father's passion to position the next generation to be grounded in His truth and love so they can fly in the Spirit. To that end, their family launched Let's Wade In, a media portal, which is both a community for children, tweens and teens and a tool for parents, grandparents and caregivers to anchor students in truth and love so they can fly in the Spirit. They have three wonderful sons.

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