I imagine Him standing next to His Father and looking past all the comforts of home. Looking past all the friendly faces of the angels. Looking past His position. Until He saw me and said, "It's worth it!"
I imagine Him kneeling in the garden and looking past all the beatings. Looking past the name calling. Looking past the blood and tears. Looking past the nails. Until He saw me and said, "It's worth it!"
I imagine Him hanging on the cross and looking past death. Looking past eternal separation from His Father. Looking past the excruciating pain. Looking past the grave. Until He saw me and said, "It's worth it!"
I imagine Him standing next to His Father in Heaven and looking past all my mistakes. Looking past all my failures. Looking past all my doubts and fears. Looking at me and saying, "Yeah, it was worth it and I'd do it again just for you!"
That's what I am thankful for. And it's only By God's Amazing Grace.
Little Bit has a mind of her own. Well, I would hope so. It would be pretty bad if she had to share it
with someone else. But she is very
independent and she tries to make decisions for herself. So when she has her mind focused on
something, it is really hard to district her and to refocus her on the matter
at hand. Like going to bed. Yep, that is the hardest part of the day. But when we do need her to refocus, to pay
attention to us verses the markers in her hand preparing to redecorate our
place, we have to tell her multiple times what we want. “Little Bit, put down the marker. Little Bit, marker. Down.
Little Bit, the marker. Drop it.”
Once does not work. EVER.
Sometimes twice works because we got a smidgen of her attention by
saying it once. I’m sure you have no
idea what I’m talking about as your children listen the first time you tell
them to do something.
But what if I am teaching Little Bit something new? For example, teaching her the letter
sounds. I show her an apple and say “A,
apple, ah”. She got it the first time.
NOT. But I told her again. And again.
And again. Tonight she came up to
me and showed me an A and said, “A says ah.”
Then proceeded to run off to return to her daily scheduled routine. I want her to know her letter sounds. I couldn't just tell her once. I had to tell her and show her multiple
times.
Adults are the same way.
Sorry to disappoint those that thought it eventually ended and you could
tell someone something once. HA.
Recently I discovered that God has done this. Yep.
In a period of twelve verses, we are told something four times. Four.
Goodness. Does He think we aren't
listening? Well, it is probably
true. But in Joshua 1 verses 6, 7, 9,
and 18, we are told to be strong and very courageous. Man, that must be really important if we are
told four different times to be strong and courageous.
Unfortunately as a human, I am innately weak and
scared. You turn all the lights off on
me and I will scream like a little girl.
No joke. So how am I supposed to
be strong and courageous? What does that
strength come from? “He gives strength to
the weary and increases the power of the weak.”
Isaiah 40:29. “But those who wait
on the Lord will renew their strength.”
Isaiah 40:31. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13. “Finally be strong in the Lord and in His
mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10. “My grace
is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness…For when I am
weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9,10.
I could go on. But our strength
is not man made. It is God’s strength. He gives us the strength that we need.
You don’t need to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to have the
strength that we are told to have in Joshua 1.
But we need to rely on God to have the strength we are told to
have. You can be weak physically but
through God, you are strong spiritually.
That is more important. You can
be a body builder and be the weakest person.
It is not about muscles. It is
about God.
I want to be strong and courageous. I know my strength comes from Him. I just need to “wait upon the Lord.” This is only possible By God’s Amazing Grace.
You know what I despise about the idea of sleep? That it is just that, an idea. There are nights where it never comes to fruition, like tonight. I want to sleep. I go to bed ready to fall into a restful sleep but am met by tosses and turns instead. Sleep seems to be right at my fingertips, but I can't seem to get a good enough grip on it. Instead of sleeping, I am being teased by an idea. It taunts me.
So on nights like tonight, a couple different things happen. If people's names come to mind, I pray for them. And sometimes I just pray for random people if no one comes to mind. I get up and read. For hours. Then go back to bed and get taunted by sleep yet again. And since my brain does not have an off switch, I think. A lot. Seriously. I get some of my best ideas while sleep evades me. Which is a blessing and a curse.
Something I did tonight to help my brain relax was make a list. Things that need to be done within the next two days. I don't always make lists. But I did tonight. I did not want what I have to take care of tomorrow and Wednesday to be running through my mind preventing me from sleeping. And they weren't. But other things were, obviously.
One thing I like about lists is checking things off that have been completed. When we were preparing to move, I kept an inventory list of what was being packed. Each box was numbered with a specific sticky note. Each color sticky note was a specific location. For example, an orange sticky signified Little Bit's room. Then in a note pad, I had each room on a separate page. I would write down the sticky number and the contents of that box. Once all of our stuff arrived to our new home (two weeks after we did), I was able to know when a room was complete by looking at the inventory list. Once a box was unpacked and its contents put away, I marked off the box from my list. When all boxes were marked off, I wrote in huge letters "COMPLETE!!!". It was quite rewarding. Especially when I was able to write complete on my last page. I am not a big list person, but when I make lists, I do them big.
But not everything needs a list. There are things that would be a waste of time to create a list for, like cleaning the house. It would take me longer to make a list than to clean. That's only because I would get distracted by the multiple colored pens. I'm sorry, I'm easily amused. I don't need a list for cooking. Every once in a blue moon I might need a recipe. But for the most part, a list is not needed.
Most importantly, my walk with God does not need a checklist. God doesn't have some big list for me to complete before He will give me the free gift of salvation. God did give the Ten Commandments. But He did not give them as a list to follow to earn salvation. I don't follow them to earn it. I follow them because I love God and want to do so. Jesus told us in Matthew 22:36-40 that the greatest commandments were 1-to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and 2-to love our neighbor as ourselves. If I love God, then I will follow the commandments, specifically the first four. If love my neighbor, I will follow the commandments, specifically the last six.
I love The Hubs. He is my strength on a daily basis. Because I love
him and have a relationship with him, I don't want to hurt him. I don't
want to take anything that belongs to him (except maybe a few bites off
his plate). I don't want to put another man before him where I share
the same thoughts I have towards my husband. I definitely don't want to
take his life. I do my very best to always tell him the truth. It is
because of the love I have towards The Hubs that I don't do these
things. It is also because of my love for God. It is because He loved
me first that it is possible.
The fact that we don't have this huge to do list to earn salvation is apparent in Luke 3 when John the Baptist is baptizing people. A tax collector asked him, "What should I do to be saved?" He wasn't given this list of things to do to be saved. It was one simple thing. Don't take more than what is appointed for you to take. In other words, don't steal from those you are collecting taxes. Soldiers asked the same question. The response was simple. They were to not intimidate or falsely accuse anyone.
Both the tax collectors and the soldiers asked simple questions. Both received simple responses. And it comes right back to love. Love for God and love for others. When we do theses two things, the relationship that ensues is one where we don't want to hurt others. We don't want to lie or kill or steal, we don't want to put anyone before God or use His name in vain.
I want the free gift of salvation. But I can't earn it by completing a check list. I can make a choice to accept or reject it. But there is nothing I can do. Because I choose to accept it, I show my appreciation by loving God and others. I want my actions to show that I love God. I want my actions to show that I appreciate this free gift that no one else can offer. But this is possible only By God's Amazing Grace.
I did something that shocked quite a few people recently. I got into the lake. The water came up to mid calf. It was chilly but not terrible. And a couple days before that, I got my feet wet...in the lake.
Why was this such a shock? Because of my immense fear of the water. Not just any water. Water that does not come out of the faucet or that is in a swimming pool. So oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds, streams. Nope, won't touch them with a ten foot pole.
Until the other day. What made the difference? Little Bit. She made all the difference. I don't want her to be afraid of the water. Therefore, I don't want her to see my fear. A fear that is sometimes crippling. I want her to feel secure. So I went into the water with her. And she had a blast.
I survived it. So, I guess I could say that it was somewhat fun.
Was I scared? For most of the time. But when I took my focus off of my fear and put it onto Little Bit to ensure she had a good time, I began to relax. A tad. I eventually had to switch off with The Hubs. I gave the excuse I wanted to take pictures. Which, by the way, is very true. But as I was taking pictures, my feet were still in the water. (Go ME!!)
I know why I am afraid of water, but that situation is so far removed that it should not be an excuse any more. I should not be afraid of water. For one, God created the water. I am afraid of something He spoke into existence. And two, I have a Protector.
Does this mean I can just get in the water without even thinking about it? Haha. No. Not yet, at least. Baby steps.
Do you remember the story of Peter? One of my blogs is about him. "Where is Your Focus". I wonder if Peter felt like I do when he asked Jesus to allow him to come on the water. Maybe he was trying to act all tough by getting out on the water. Maybe, maybe not. But as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he wasn't afraid. When he took them off of Jesus, he became afraid and started to sink. Once I took my focus off of my fear and put it onto my daughter, I began to relax. It is all about the focus. Am I going to focus on my fear and be paralyzed? Or am I going to focus on something else, preferably God, and enjoy myself? I want to do the latter. I need to do the latter. It is a work in progress.
This reminds me of the verse in 2 Timothy 1:7 where we are told that God does not give us the spirit of fear but of love, power, and self-control. God loves me enough to give me the power to face my fears and control my fears so that I am not afraid. If He did not give me the fear, then I should not be afraid.
But it is so hard. It is much easier being afraid. But I miss out on life due to my fears. Especially now that I live five minutes from the lake.
I know that I can overcome this fear. I know that I can be strong for Little Bit. I know that I can be strong for me. And I know I can put my focus on Him so that I am not afraid. But this is only possible By God's Amazing Grace.
I love to take nature hikes, read fiction Christian novels, write, play with technology, or just play. Of all the things I like to do, I do not like to put together puzzles.
Growing up, I remember my grandmother sitting at the table for hours putting together thousand piece puzzles. I would come over and watch over. Every once in a while I would pick up a piece, put it where it belonged, then get up and walk away. But I never enjoyed just sitting there putting a puzzle together.
Even now, Little Bit loves putting puzzles together and I just watch her excitement as she finds the right piece to put in the right spot. It is fun to watch her succeed. But I am not interested in putting the puzzle together myself. I think it has to do with the sitting part. I have trouble doing that for long periods of time.
But I have put them together before. I usually start with the edge pieces just cause those are a wee bit easier to put together. After those are complete and I have my boundaries for the picture yet to be complete, I start filling in the middle. And it gets frustrating. I will try to a piece where I know it should go. And it doesn't fit. So I turn it and try again. And it doesn't fit. So I try to squash it into place. But it still doesn't fit. And I get frustrated. I know that piece should go there. I has to belong there. All the colors match. It must go there.
But it doesn't.
When I finally get to the point where the puzzle is one piece shy of being complete, I hold that same piece in my hand that didn't fit where I knew it should belong. And it fits in perfectly. On the opposite site of the puzzle. Went in smoothly. I didn't have to force it. I didn't have to twist or turn it. I just laid it down and it went right in. A perfect match.
How many times in life are we like that? We try to put a piece of our life in a specific spot. But it doesn't fit. We twist it. We turn it. We try to squash it in. But it doesn't fit because it doesn't go there. But then we let it go. We give it to God. All the other pieces go in nicely. It is just that one. We try to force our will on the situation. But once we let it go, His will takes over and all the pieces of our life fit together like they are supposed to.
Did I say our life would be perfect? No. Not even close. But our life will be aligned with the will of God. And then things will begin to fall into place.
I've been doing this lately. I have been trying to force my will, my plans, my ideas, my goals into the spot I believed it had to go. I have this idea as to what my life should look like and where I should be. I have a picture in my head that the finished product should look like and the picture is not coming together. The pieces are not fitting together. At all. The picture has been incomplete because I keep trying to put the pieces where I think they should go instead of allowing God to put them where they belong. In His time.
Last week, I finally let go. I put the puzzle pieces down. I allowed God to put them where they belong. Starting Monday, He began to put the pieces in the right spots. The puzzle is coming together nicely. It is not complete, but God is putting them where they go in His time.
Was it easy letting go of the pieces and allowing God to take control? No, because as you know, I am a control freak. I think things should be done in a certain time in a certain way. But do I feel better now that I have allowed God to take over? You have no idea. God knew all along how the pieces would fit together. I hadn't a clue. I need to learn to allow Him to put the pieces where they belong instead of forcing them into places I think they should go. It relieves so much stress. Let's just say, I had an amazing night's sleep last night due to the fact that it was His doing that the pieces fell into place. Not mine.
But this puzzle is still being worked on as we speak. The last piece will go in when I take my final breath. And at that time, I believe the puzzle will create a beautiful picture. But this is possible only By God's Amazing Grace.
Have you ever realized that the people in the Bible has such a strong faith?
I mean, look at Abraham. God asked him to leave his family and follow. Where? God would tell Abraham when he was there. Just up and leave his home, his family, everything. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son. The son that would be the beginning of the generations to come that were promised to Abraham. Abraham did this with such faith because he believed that God would still be able to resurrect Isaac after the sacrifice. Of course God stopped the sacrifice and provided an alternate sacrifice.
Look at Job. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Job had it all. A great house, family, friends, land, livestock. Yep, he had it all. And then, BAM! He lost it all. He still had his friends, but I am not sure I'd want them as friends at this point. He still had his wife. I love my husband because of how supportive he is. Job's wife...supportive? Not so much. But he continued to trust God when his whole world seemed to be crashing down on him.
Look at Joseph. The favorite son of Jacob. He received a coat of many colors and had a few dreams showing his brothers bowing down to him. This of course made his brothers jealous. Just a tad. They only wanted to kill him. But thanks to Reuben, they did not do so. Instead, he was sold into slavery. But because of his faith in God, he was able to rise up and take charge. Until Potiphar's wife decided she wanted more out of Joseph than just a servant. But Joseph trusted God and chose prison over pleasure. Yet during this time, he again was given duties like that of someone in charge. Then he became second in command to Pharaoh due to dream interpretations. All because of his faith.
These three men have something other than their faith in common. They have a lack of mistakes mentioned in the Bible. Abraham's mistakes included lying that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife and taking matters into his own hands to fulfill God's promise. And Joseph's mistake would have been gloating about his dreams and his beautiful coat. Job's mistakes were not mentioned. So all in all, these were really good guys. So of course they had great faith and God was able to use them. What about the sinners? What about those that actually made mistakes? Was their faith as strong and was God actually able to use them?
Of course.
Let's look at my favorite example. David.
Where should we start with him? Let's see. He committed adultery. Sent the woman's husband to the front lines of the battle knowing he would be killed. So that would make him a murderer, correct? I could go on, but there is no need. That is already more than any of the above men.
But God wasn't able to use David. Nobody even knows who David is, right?
Wrong!!!
God definitely used David DESPITE his sins and mistakes. God just had to work around them.
After the death of Uriah, David and Bathsheba married and they had a son. Due to David's mistakes, the punishment was the loss of their first child. But guess what? David still sat on the throne. He was still king.
Why is that important?
Sometimes God has to take our dream away. He doesn't always remove us from the situation.. He just takes away our baby (aka our dream).
God does that sometimes. He takes away something that we love. But when he does this, he does not leave an empty spot. He always replaces it. He restores us.
He did this with David. David was not taken off the throne. He was still king and could still serve God from this seat of power. But when God saw fit, he gave David a baby. Well, a few babies. But most specifically, Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, the one who became king after David, the one who built the temple.
And despite his sins, his mistakes, his failures, he is still known as the man after God's own heart. Why not someone who was more perfect, someone who did not make so many mistakes? Someone who lived their life on the straight and narrow?
Because no matter what David did. No matter what sins he committed. No matter what. He always returned to God. He always walked with God. He continually came back to the Creator.
And God is able to use the story of David to reach me. I knows this may shock you, but I am a sinner. I have made mistakes. Ones that have altered my life. But I chose to be like David and keep coming back to God. I chose to walk as closely with God as I possibly can. I want to be known as the girl after God's own heart. God has taken away one of my dreams only to replace it with a better dream. He does restore.
But the restoration process, the walk with God, the being a girl after God's own heart? It is a possibility, but only By God's Amazing Grace.
I was driving home the other day and the wind was extremely strong. So much so that I could feel the push and pull of the car. I was sure I was going to blown off the road and become part of the beautiful landscape. But thankfully that did not happen.
As I was driving, I did take note of said beautiful landscape. The trees lining the road were standing surprisingly still. I would never have know how windy it was by looking at these particular trees. Yet the grass beneath looked as if it were ready to come out of the ground due to the high winds. I was perplexed. How could the wind be so strong but the branches of the trees were standing still as if there wasn't even a breeze?
I began to think about that and how it relates to our faith. How is it that some people could be going through trials but their faith is so strong you would think everything was hunky dory? But it is not about appearances. It is about true faith.
Think back to the trees. Think about how they grow. They start from a seed. Something so tiny yet produces something so big. When the seed is planted in the ground, it begins to sprout up into a sapling. A small plant that could easily be uprooted by strong winds, hands, animals. Not a strong object by any means at this point.
As the sapling is growing, so are the roots. The roots of the tree begin to hold fast to the ground in which it is planted. The roots give the tree its strong foundation. Without these, the tree would not survive very long, especially as tree began to grow taller. Not only do the roots form the strong foundation of the tree, but they are the source of nourishment. Through the roots, the tree can absorb the moisture and food it needs to survive.
So why weren't the trees budging as the high winds were pushing me off the road? Because they had a strong foundation. Their roots were strong. Without the roots, the trees might have been on the road with me being pushed along by the wind. Hopefully they would stay in their own lanes and not try to cut me off, though.
It is the same with us. We need to have that strong foundation. Our roots are studying of God's word, praying daily with God, and growing our faith. If we don't do this, we cannot be strong. Any trial will come along and we will topple over. But with the roots planted properly, we can stand strong through the trials. We might sway, but we can still say, "God can get me through this. It is in His hands. I have no reason to fear."
It is true when Jesus said we only need to have the faith the size of a mustard seed. That seed is so small (1-2 mm in diameter), yet it grows into a big plant (9 feet tall). The small amount of faith grows into an enormous amount of faith. I strive for that kind of faith so that I can stand strong in the midst of storms that come into my life. I want to be like the trees that strand tall as the wind is so strong. But this is only possible By God's Amazing Grace.
Through the hustle and bustle of the mornings, trying to get everyone to school and work, I am silenced and my world stops rushing for a while as I stare at the mountains lining the horizon. The mountains are visible beckoning my attention as I am on my way to work. I could just say forget about work and stare at the rugged peaks, the snow caps, the shades of blue on the masterpieces that lay ahead. It is amazing. I love the mountains.
The only other thing that I can think of that matches the beauty of the mountains that was not created by man is the changing of the colors. As Autumn rolls in, the cool breezes blow, and the green leaves fade into shades of red, orange, and yellow. I had never really witnessed this until this past Autumn. I had never seen such vibrant colors before. The dark, rich red leaves have become my favorite.
I am able to experience these two beautiful things that were not present in my previous home. Trees were in Texas, they changed colors. But the colors were not vibrant. And the leaves fell off the trees within days of them changing colors. Never had they stayed like they do here. And of course mountains are non existent in Texas. There are some hills, but not true mountains. At least in my opinion. But here. *Sigh*
It is amazing to think about these two objects of my affection. Object one--mountains. A reminder of sin. A reminder of a flood that happened over 4,000 years ago. The water ripping the world apart. All because of sin. Everything God created was good. Then enter sin. Sin created the beauty of the mountains.
Object two--the changing of the colors. A yearly reminder of death. The leaves change colors because of their impending death. As the leaves start to change, they begin to fall off the trees until Spring. The beauty of the leaves is because of sin.
Despite the fact that these two objects are a reminder of sin, they are also reminder of God's grace.
It makes me think. These two beautiful things are a result of sin. It goes to show that God can even make something beautiful out of something caused by sin.
Then I think of me. I am a sinner. No doubt about it. But in spite of my sin, God can turn my life into something beautiful. He can forgive me of my sins, if I repent of them. He can cleanse me and make me white as snow. He can shine through me so that others can see Him. And when people see Him, they will see something beautiful.
When I see the mountains and the trees, I don't see the sin, I see the beauty. I pray God can helps others to see the beauty in me and not the sin. This is possible only By God's Amazing Grace.
Imagine sitting in a chair and falling asleep. Not too unusual of a thought, huh? Now imagine waking up. The first thing you see is dark. You try to move, but you are unable. You are strapped down. You cry out for help. You can hear voices calling out to you, but you see no one. You feel helpless and alone. There is nothing you can do to save yourself. Nothing.
This is an experience my daughter had when we were on our trip to and from Texas. We drove through the night, making it easier on all of us. She could sleep the whole trip so we could drive straight through with minimal stops.
She was in her car seat and is still rear facing due to her size. She had fallen asleep shortly into our journey. Somewhere around midnight, one o'clock in the morning, she awoke. Usually when she wakes up at home, she gets out of her bed and comes to bed with us. She can get up and move if need be. But this instance, she was on familiar turf. She was in a moving car where she could not get out. She was stuck.
She cried and cried. We kept talking to her, letting her know we were there for her. We eventually had to pull over and the Hubs got in the back while I drove. He put his hand on her. Within a few minutes, she was calm. The crying had stopped. He went to move his hand and she grabbed his arm and put his hand on her cheek. She would not let him let go of her.
Later we switched spots and he took over driving. I put my hand on her. This time, she took her legs and wrapped them around my arm. She was going to make sure I did not leave her.
How many times have you been in a situation like that? You feel completely stuck in a dark world? You can't help yourself. You feel scared. You feel helpless. You feel alone. There is nothing you can do. And guess what? There is nothing you can do...but pray. Cry out to God like little bit cried out to us. Tell Him how you feel. Tell Him what you are going through. And once you feel His presence, don't let go of Him. Hold on tight.
Once we realize He has a hold of us, we can know that He is in control. We know we are not alone. We are no longer helpless. We have no reason to be scared anymore. God is in control and He has a hold on us. We just need to keep holding onto Him. This is possible only By God's Amazing Grace.
The new year has rolled in and old has, well, gone down in history as another year. 2013 is over, 2014 has just begun. The ball has fallen, streamers have...streamed, kisses have been shared, and now people spend half of the first day of the new year sleeping, trying to catch up on the lost hours of sleep from New Year's Eve. Resolutions have been made. Promises spoken. A clean slate. A fresh start. A brand spanking new year.
Yet I participated in none of the above. Why? Partly because I am kinda old now. I can't handle staying up until the crack of dawn any more. Okay, so I am only 31. But still. My body and mind can't handle ringing in the new year like it did back in the day. Also because, as the Hubs would say, I am a work-a-holic. If I sleep the day away because I stayed up the night before, then I will accomplish nothing. And boy did I accomplish something. Our place is practically spotless and most of my school work is complete. Another reason is because I enjoy kissing the Hubs when I am not a zombie. I like being warm blooded when I share something of that nature with him. So my kisses to and from him were when we were bright eyed and bushy tailed. And the last thing, I don't make resolutions. Anymore.
Resolutions are promises you make to yourself so that you can beat yourself up at the end of a few days of not keeping them. Resolutions are set up to make us failures. I don't know about you, but I don't want to start my year off as a failure. Statistically speaking, only 8% of the 39% of people that make resolutions, keep them. 8%. I am a math teacher and numbers make sense to me so here goes. There are approximately 314 million people in the US. Of those, approximately 122 million make a resolution. And of those, 1 million people keep them. I guess that is not too bad. But that means that there are 22 million people that are unsuccessful with their resolutions, sometimes as quickly as the first month.
But that is not why I don't make a resolution.
The ten most popular resolutions:
1. Lose weight. (Yes, I could lose some weight.)
2. Get organized. (Oh, boy could I ever.)
3. Spend less, save more. (Yep, that would be me.)
4. Enjoy life to the fullest. (Hmm. I like my life. I enjoy it.)
5. Stay fit and healthy. (That would be me.)
6. Learn something exciting. (I am a teacher. Learning is very important to me.)
7. Quit smoking. (Well, I would have to start to quit. So not going to happen.)
8. Help others in their dreams. (Again, I teach.)
9. Fall in love. (Check!)
10. Spend more time with family. (Yep. Could do some of that.)
So of the ten most popular resolutions, I could make seven of them. So it is not that I don't have resolutions to be made. Cause I definitely have some that could. It has nothing to do with that.
So why don't I make resolutions? A couple different reasons.
Numero uno. Why do I have to wait until the new year to start making a difference? I plan on losing weight and staying fit and healthy. When I say I plan, I've planned and have already started almost a month ago. I don't want to wait until the new year begins to start on something that is important, like my health. A couple years ago I decided I needed to change. I was not happy with the way I looked or felt. I knew I needed to do something about it. So I began working out and changing my diet that very same day. It just so happened to be the same week as the new year. Just a coincidence. Nothing more. And I accomplished my goal. But it was not a resolution.
Nummer zwei. If statistics are against me, why do something that will set me up for failure. The moment I mess up, I'm a failure. The moment I make a mistake, I couldn't handle it. I'm weak. But I'm not. I am human. Nothing more. As a human, my promises are fairly empty and meaningless. There is only One who has never broken a promise and that is Jesus Himself. All the promises He made have been kept or will be fulfilled in His time. I don't need to make another broken promise to myself and set myself up for failure.
Numero trois. I don't make resolutions because I make daily goals. Everyday when I wake up, I decide how I want my life to be different than the day before. I think about what can I do differently so that I am a better person than I was yesterday. What actions can I take so that my walk with God is closer? How can I let God use me? How can I let His light shine in me so that others see Him? That is not a New Year's Resolution. That is something I strive for every day, not just at the beginning of the year. I want each day to be new, not just the year. My goal is not to be a better person by the end of the year, but by the end of the day.
And it has to be a daily goal. But get this. If I mess up today, I can start over tomorrow. I don't have to wait until next year. My clean slate starts the moment I wake up. Not when the ball drops.
So whatever resolutions you have made for this new year, whether it be to lose weight, quit a habit, life changes, etc., make a daily goal. Wake up each morning with a way to be successful at it THAT day. And strive for better than yesterday. If you make a mistake. You can start over right then. Don't wait until next year. And most importantly, whatever changes you are striving for, give them to God. He is the only One that help you be successful. And He can make them easier. Give it to God. He's got this.
What will be your goal for today? You will succeed only By God's Amazing Grace.
