Last Sunday
at church I heard a profound statement.
I have heard it before. But for
some reason it resonated with me. I thought
I would share it here with you because, like me, you might need to hear it
again.
If there is something that is important in your life, you will find a way to do it. If it is not important, you will find an excuse.
Sounds
simple right? Well, pull up a chair and
let’s put this in perspective.
I have a daily list of things to do. I know, you are surprised. Anyhow, I try to prioritize this list, but often even when I set the priority, I become distracted by other things during the day. Those distractions may be calls that come in for the business, or another item on my desk that grabs my attention. Either way, the list sometimes gets put on the bottom of my priorities. It doesn’t make the list any less valuable. I just make the choice to reprioritize the other tasks over the list.
However,
when I need to catch a flight somewhere, I find the time to make it to the
airport early. Knowing I have a deadline,
the flight will leave without me, I set my priorities differently. I can’t put that flight at the bottom of my
list. Actually, I could. The airline wouldn’t care. They already have my money. But I would care. That would be an expensive lesson in
timekeeping.
A few years ago,
my husband broke his ankle and had to use crutches as he healed. We purchased him a fancy blue scooter so he
could put his leg on the scooter and ‘scoot’ all over the house faster than the
crutches. I wondered at the time if it
was a good decision to get the scooter.
Instead of taking it easy, he used it as a resource to move faster in
his tasks. But that is for another story.
We had a
Marriage Encounter Weekend within weeks of him breaking his ankle. We could have stepped aside to let another
couple present that weekend. Sorry, no
pun intended. Sorry, I just laughed at
my own joke there…
Anyhow, my
husband decided we would still go to the event.
It was important to us, as well as the ministry. We wanted to keep our promise and made it a
priority. His broken ankle did not distract
his goal of being on that weekend.
Where am I
going with all of this? I am glad you
asked.
How many
resolutions have you made over the years?
One, several? Have you given up
on them, like I have?
If you look
at a resolution to do something different, whether January first, or June
fifteenth, it is attainable with hard work and prioritization. It is only taking a large project and breaking
it down into small daily bites and not giving up.
For example,
I read through the bible many years ago and wanted to do so again but never made
it a priority. I read scriptures regularly,
but I do know reading the entire bible gives a different perspective and a
deeper closeness with my heavenly Father.
When I did
make the resolution to read it through, I would get distracted and miss
days. Then I would get on my own case
and put myself down. Then I would
finally admit defeat and put it aside making the assumption that there was no
turning back. Instead, I could have just
picked up the bible again, and started where I left off.
Small daily
bites.
Do we give
up on our kids or friends when they mess up?
No, we give them grace.
God gives us
daily grace.
Why can’t we
give ourselves grace too?
Don’t give
up on those goals. Don’t give up on
those dreams. Make a plan. Take small daily bites to reach your
plan. You will fall. We all do.
But pick up where you left off, brush off, and start again.
You have all
those hours above. You have time. Failure only happens when we quit.
Give yourself
grace and don’t quit.
I am
cheering for you! You can do this!
Ps: I have
picked up the goal again and I am reading where I left off in the bible. Want to join me? Head over to bible.com and join me 😊
2
Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
But he said
to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that
Christ’s power may rest on me.
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