"I’ve been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes. So much can slip away before we say goodbye. But if there’s no other way, I’m done asking why. I’m on my knees, begging you to turn to me. I’m on my knees, Father will you turn to me?"
"Hold My Heart"- Tenth Avenue North
These lyrics really speak to me. If you haven’t heard the song you should. Sometimes I struggle so much with wanting to be in control. I’m afraid to close my eyes because if I can’t see what is going on than it might slip away. I’m not ready for that. I’m never ready for God to take away something I think I need. Even if I’m not ready, though, I can still trust Him. That’s where the second part comes in. I love the phrase, “But if there’s no other way, I’m done asking why.” I think it conveys the exact attitude that we should have toward God and His will. God gives us the privilege to ask why, but with the privilege comes the understanding that He might not answer us. We can ask why something happened the way it did, but in the end we need to trust God that He knows best, and ultimately stop asking and accept it. Continuously asking why about the same topic can be a sign of unbelief. Asking why because we don’t understand, but then accepting that we don’t understand (and maybe will never understand) and being at peace about that shows that we trust God. Jesus did that in the garden of Gethsemane. He understood perfectly why it had to be done, but He still prayed for another way. And, after He prayed, He willingly accepted God’s plan and went to the cross. Was it easy? Certainly not, and Jesus knew it wouldn’t be. But God doesn’t design our lives here on earth to be easy. He designs them to bring glory to Himself. Jesus knew that, too. That’s why He prayed, “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mark 14:36b) On the flip side of that, God does love us and care for us. He is not going to make us suffer uselessly. That is why we can have full confidence that when a “Why?” issue comes up, even if we don’t understand it, it’s for our good.
I’ve had a lot of “Why?” questions in my life. Sometimes I couldn’t see any reason at all, and I still can’t. But that doesn’t matter. I’m stronger now because of them. They still hurt, there are still questions, but I’m at peace. I’m not in control, and to be honest, it’s much better this way. “We walk by faith not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
It Should Have Been You
2000 years ago, a man was dying on a cross. He was battered, bruised, and bloody. He had endured every possible way one human being could hurt another, not only by being whipped, beaten, and struck, but also by betrayal and broken promises. His close friends had deserted him. The people he was king over had rejected him. Most of us probably won't have even made it to the cross considering the torture that took place before it. Yet he had, and now he was hanging on a cross and facing death by suffication. Crucifiction was engineered to be the most painful way to die. It took hours. Imagine how bad it was when breaking BOTH of someone's legs was considered merciful. We have no idea what it was like; we can't imagine what it was like. To top it all off, God himself turned His face away. That was by far the worst punishment. Jesus knew what was going to happen, and yet He did it anyway. He did it, because, even though it should have been us on the cross, that wouldn't have changed anything in God's eyes. Sinless had to pay the price of sinful if we were to have any hope. Dying and going to hell satisfies God's justice. That's what we all deserve. Jesus came so there would be another way. Remeber that this Easter.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Words We Don't Say
Words are powerful. I don’t think anyone would deny that. We can all remember a time when someone’s words tore us down, and we can hopefully remember a time when someone’s words built us up. It’s been said that actions speak louder than words and words are cheap, but that being said, words create most of the problems we face with other people. Things can get so messed up so quickly just because someone misunderstood what you were saying. We need to think about what we say when communicating with others, and that includes the words and the tone you use when talking to others. I’m not here to talk about being careful with what you say, though. I want to talk about the words you don’t say.
At first this might seem like a small topic. There can’t be much to say about something that never happened, can there? It’s like talking about a snowstorm that never hit, or the trip to the grocery store when your car didn’t break down. Not much there on the surface, yet I would argue that the words you don’t say are at least as important as the ones you do.
The first aspect of this topic is the words you don’t say because you shouldn’t. Whenever you are in an argument and you “hold your tongue,” that’s good. It takes incredible self-control, but by doing so you don’t inflict the wounds you could. It shows love and respect for the other person, even if you don’t feel that way at the moment. Sometimes we are hurting so much ourselves we just want to make the other person hurt, too, yet when we restrain ourselves that brings glory to God. Ohhh, it’s hard, but it’s what we must do if want to follow God whole-heartedly.
The other aspect is the words you don’t say and you should. Have you ever thought about that? When you could encourage someone but don’t for one reason or the other? You’re too busy, you don’t think about it, etc. The words you don’t say and shouldn’t actually fall into the encouragement category because you don’t harm someone as much as you could. Words you should say and don’t are actually discouraging because you have the chance to build someone up and you don’t. Think a time when you wish someone had said, “Good job! I’m proud of you!” or “Thank you for your effort,” and they didn’t. That hurts almost as much as if they had said something negative. The one nice thing about not hearing it, though, is that we can usually explain it away to make it hurt less. That’s harder to do with actual words.
My conclusion to all of this is to encourage you to think about the words you don’t say. Why don’t you say them? Should you say them? Never underestimate the power of words you say, or the ones you don’t.
At first this might seem like a small topic. There can’t be much to say about something that never happened, can there? It’s like talking about a snowstorm that never hit, or the trip to the grocery store when your car didn’t break down. Not much there on the surface, yet I would argue that the words you don’t say are at least as important as the ones you do.
The first aspect of this topic is the words you don’t say because you shouldn’t. Whenever you are in an argument and you “hold your tongue,” that’s good. It takes incredible self-control, but by doing so you don’t inflict the wounds you could. It shows love and respect for the other person, even if you don’t feel that way at the moment. Sometimes we are hurting so much ourselves we just want to make the other person hurt, too, yet when we restrain ourselves that brings glory to God. Ohhh, it’s hard, but it’s what we must do if want to follow God whole-heartedly.
The other aspect is the words you don’t say and you should. Have you ever thought about that? When you could encourage someone but don’t for one reason or the other? You’re too busy, you don’t think about it, etc. The words you don’t say and shouldn’t actually fall into the encouragement category because you don’t harm someone as much as you could. Words you should say and don’t are actually discouraging because you have the chance to build someone up and you don’t. Think a time when you wish someone had said, “Good job! I’m proud of you!” or “Thank you for your effort,” and they didn’t. That hurts almost as much as if they had said something negative. The one nice thing about not hearing it, though, is that we can usually explain it away to make it hurt less. That’s harder to do with actual words.
My conclusion to all of this is to encourage you to think about the words you don’t say. Why don’t you say them? Should you say them? Never underestimate the power of words you say, or the ones you don’t.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Little Graces
"God’s grace is like manna…There’s manna for the moment. And there will be manna for tomorrow’s moments, too”
"Living Whole Without a Better Half" -Wendy Widder
Manna for the moment. I also call them “little graces.” They are the events, conversations, and people that God places in our lives at the exact moment we need them. Not necessarily when we think we need them, but when God knows we need them. Grace with a capital G is what carried me away from the old self and into a new life in Christ, and graces with a little g are what carry me now.
I think there are actually two categories of “little graces.” The first category contains the graces that help you make it through the tough times in life. It’s when a friend calls when you really need to talk to somebody. It’s the Bible verse that comes alive for the first time because it’s exactly what you need to hear. It’s the strength God provides to go on when you can’t see how you can. It’s the endurance given to keep running the race of faith. It is the grace talked about in 2 Corinthians 12:9a: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” God’s grace is there when we need it. We couldn’t survive this life without it.
There is another category, I believe, of “little graces” which I like to call “bonus” graces. This is kind of my pet theory, so bear with me. Bonus graces are things that God does for you that you don’t necessarily need, but which makes you smile or makes your day better. Bonus graces are things God does for us because He loves us. The funny thing about bonus graces are that they are everywhere, yet you can totally miss them if you aren’t looking for them. Once I started looking I was amazed. Let me give you a few examples so you understand what I’m talking about. This week I had to leave early one morning and had to scrape the frost off of my car before I left. That didn’t exactly make me extremely thankful right then, but it did later when I realized that by scraping the frost off I had actually scraped off the dirt underneath as well, so I could actually see out of my windshield better than before. That might seem obscure to you, but that’s what I’m talking about. Look for bonus graces and be thankful for them. I’m not talking about the raise you got or the good health God’s given you-you should already be thanking Him for that. Look for the things that aren’t obvious, especially things that are an annoyance at first but later turn out to be a blessing. Give thanks to God when a light turns green so you don’t have to down-shift (that only applies if you drive a manual). Give thanks when He gives you a sunset. Give thanks when your sunglasses don’t break when you step on them. Give thanks when your sunglasses do break but you find a spare set in your glove compartment you didn’t realize you had. These are bonus graces. I can’t support my theory of bonus graces from Scripture, but I do know that God loves us and He controls all things. Some of you might disagree with my theory and that’s okay. If you do let me know and we can talk about it. One of the purposes of this blog is to be able to discuss ideas while giving glory to God for what He’s done. As usual, thanks for reading!
"Living Whole Without a Better Half" -Wendy Widder
Manna for the moment. I also call them “little graces.” They are the events, conversations, and people that God places in our lives at the exact moment we need them. Not necessarily when we think we need them, but when God knows we need them. Grace with a capital G is what carried me away from the old self and into a new life in Christ, and graces with a little g are what carry me now.
I think there are actually two categories of “little graces.” The first category contains the graces that help you make it through the tough times in life. It’s when a friend calls when you really need to talk to somebody. It’s the Bible verse that comes alive for the first time because it’s exactly what you need to hear. It’s the strength God provides to go on when you can’t see how you can. It’s the endurance given to keep running the race of faith. It is the grace talked about in 2 Corinthians 12:9a: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” God’s grace is there when we need it. We couldn’t survive this life without it.
There is another category, I believe, of “little graces” which I like to call “bonus” graces. This is kind of my pet theory, so bear with me. Bonus graces are things that God does for you that you don’t necessarily need, but which makes you smile or makes your day better. Bonus graces are things God does for us because He loves us. The funny thing about bonus graces are that they are everywhere, yet you can totally miss them if you aren’t looking for them. Once I started looking I was amazed. Let me give you a few examples so you understand what I’m talking about. This week I had to leave early one morning and had to scrape the frost off of my car before I left. That didn’t exactly make me extremely thankful right then, but it did later when I realized that by scraping the frost off I had actually scraped off the dirt underneath as well, so I could actually see out of my windshield better than before. That might seem obscure to you, but that’s what I’m talking about. Look for bonus graces and be thankful for them. I’m not talking about the raise you got or the good health God’s given you-you should already be thanking Him for that. Look for the things that aren’t obvious, especially things that are an annoyance at first but later turn out to be a blessing. Give thanks to God when a light turns green so you don’t have to down-shift (that only applies if you drive a manual). Give thanks when He gives you a sunset. Give thanks when your sunglasses don’t break when you step on them. Give thanks when your sunglasses do break but you find a spare set in your glove compartment you didn’t realize you had. These are bonus graces. I can’t support my theory of bonus graces from Scripture, but I do know that God loves us and He controls all things. Some of you might disagree with my theory and that’s okay. If you do let me know and we can talk about it. One of the purposes of this blog is to be able to discuss ideas while giving glory to God for what He’s done. As usual, thanks for reading!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Intentional Busyness
Wake up. Eat breakfast. Take a shower. Make the bed. Study calculus. Study microeconomics. Go on a walk. Eat lunch. Go to Wal-mart. Go to the library. Write some emails. Make brownies. Read the chapter for Bible study. Learn how to speed-read. Eat dinner. Go to Sam’s and price check some food for the retreat. Fill up the car with gas. Go to Bible study. Wind down on facebook. Write a list for tomorrow. Write one last email. Do devotions. Go to bed.
Life is busy. We all have stuff to do, places to be, people to talk to. Busyness is the plague of American society, but it’s the plague we’ve chosen for ourselves. We may complain about how busy we are, but deep down inside we like being busy. We like having stuff to do. It makes us feel important. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: In America, being busy is a virtue. We respect people who get a lot done. If anyone is guilty of being busy it’s me. The above schedule is what a normal day can look like for me. Granted, I’m not usually that efficient, but I can be if I really try. I am a master of doing many, many things. Now, I don’t think that is wrong in itself, but I think it quickly can become wrong depending on the motivation and the activities. It says in Ephesians 5:16 to redeem the time because the days are evil. I can bring glory to God by not sitting around wasting my life playing solitaire, but rather using my talents to organize things and use the mind He has giving me to learn calculus and microeconomics. But the real issue is…do I do that? Do I use my activities to bring Him glory, or do I use it to glorify myself? (Ouch. This is getting painful. I want to write about something else right now.) The truth is that it doesn’t matter how many times I give God glory, what matters is how many times I DON’T. That is what needs to change; That is the real issue. It doesn’t matter how many things I do during the day if I don’t do it for the glory of God. He would rather I do one thing for Him as opposed to twenty things for me.
Let me talk about another aspect of redeeming the time. This one is also an area I need to work on. Colossians 4:5 says, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” This says the same thing as Ephesians 5:16, except it adds the part about “those who are outside.” Who are those people? From the context I am pretty confident that Paul is talking about unbelievers, but if we take it literally it is talking about people OUTSIDE; basically anyone who doesn’t live in the same house as we do. Where am I going with this? Simply this: we have a chance to redeem the time and glorify God in every situation, whether that be standing in line at Wal-mart or going on a walk. We interact with people every day, and we have control over how we act in those situations. We can treat the clerk at Wal-mart like every other customer she has helped that day, or we can make an effort and ask her how her day is going. We can slow down enough to hold open the door for the lady with a stroller, or we can breeze out the door while looking at our watch and thinking about how much we have left to do and never even see her. We can get so focused on our own list of stuff to check off that we stop caring about those “other” people; they are simply in the same location as we are, it has nothing to do with us. But what if it does have something to do with us? What if we look at every encounter with a stranger as an appointment set up by God? That changes things, doesn’t it? We don’t know what one kind word can mean for someone. We don’t know how God can use a conversation at the bookstore. We probably won’t ever know, but that shouldn’t matter. We need to rip the focus off of ourselves and our schedule and look at life through the perspective of putting other’s interests first for the glory of God. It sounds so easy. It is so hard. Sometimes we won’t want to. Sometimes it will make us late. Sometimes it won’t be appreciated. Most times we won’t get to tell people the reason why we do it. None of that matters. What matters is the condition of our heart. God will know why we do it, and that is all the reason I need.
Life is busy. We all have stuff to do, places to be, people to talk to. Busyness is the plague of American society, but it’s the plague we’ve chosen for ourselves. We may complain about how busy we are, but deep down inside we like being busy. We like having stuff to do. It makes us feel important. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: In America, being busy is a virtue. We respect people who get a lot done. If anyone is guilty of being busy it’s me. The above schedule is what a normal day can look like for me. Granted, I’m not usually that efficient, but I can be if I really try. I am a master of doing many, many things. Now, I don’t think that is wrong in itself, but I think it quickly can become wrong depending on the motivation and the activities. It says in Ephesians 5:16 to redeem the time because the days are evil. I can bring glory to God by not sitting around wasting my life playing solitaire, but rather using my talents to organize things and use the mind He has giving me to learn calculus and microeconomics. But the real issue is…do I do that? Do I use my activities to bring Him glory, or do I use it to glorify myself? (Ouch. This is getting painful. I want to write about something else right now.) The truth is that it doesn’t matter how many times I give God glory, what matters is how many times I DON’T. That is what needs to change; That is the real issue. It doesn’t matter how many things I do during the day if I don’t do it for the glory of God. He would rather I do one thing for Him as opposed to twenty things for me.
Let me talk about another aspect of redeeming the time. This one is also an area I need to work on. Colossians 4:5 says, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” This says the same thing as Ephesians 5:16, except it adds the part about “those who are outside.” Who are those people? From the context I am pretty confident that Paul is talking about unbelievers, but if we take it literally it is talking about people OUTSIDE; basically anyone who doesn’t live in the same house as we do. Where am I going with this? Simply this: we have a chance to redeem the time and glorify God in every situation, whether that be standing in line at Wal-mart or going on a walk. We interact with people every day, and we have control over how we act in those situations. We can treat the clerk at Wal-mart like every other customer she has helped that day, or we can make an effort and ask her how her day is going. We can slow down enough to hold open the door for the lady with a stroller, or we can breeze out the door while looking at our watch and thinking about how much we have left to do and never even see her. We can get so focused on our own list of stuff to check off that we stop caring about those “other” people; they are simply in the same location as we are, it has nothing to do with us. But what if it does have something to do with us? What if we look at every encounter with a stranger as an appointment set up by God? That changes things, doesn’t it? We don’t know what one kind word can mean for someone. We don’t know how God can use a conversation at the bookstore. We probably won’t ever know, but that shouldn’t matter. We need to rip the focus off of ourselves and our schedule and look at life through the perspective of putting other’s interests first for the glory of God. It sounds so easy. It is so hard. Sometimes we won’t want to. Sometimes it will make us late. Sometimes it won’t be appreciated. Most times we won’t get to tell people the reason why we do it. None of that matters. What matters is the condition of our heart. God will know why we do it, and that is all the reason I need.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Alter Ego
I don’t like filling out paperwork for Christian organizations/activities. Why? Because there is that little section usually on the second page that says “Testimony.” Now, that wouldn’t be a problem except for one little thing…I don’t really have one. I have a great testimony of what God has done in my life as a Christian, but I don’t have anything to say about how I became a Christian. To be honest, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a Christian, and I don’t remember the exact time I became one. I grew up in a Christian family and it was just a way of life. Obviously at some point I accepted Christ into my heart for myself and I wasn’t just going off my parent beliefs, but when that was is the question. So I have a big problem when I am supposed to write down my testimony. I think it is hilarious when they say that you can write on the back if you run out of room. Umm, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. I wish I had enough to say to write on the back. I wish I had a great testimony that would move people because of an amazing work of God in my life. Don’t get me wrong; I realize that God did an amazing work in my life because He does an amazing work in every believer’s life to bring them to Himself, but my was more subtle than most. So there I am…a testimony to write and nothing to say.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to fully appreciate God’s grace and forgiveness because I was never a “bad person.” Part of the reason I would love an amazing testimony is because I want to understand grace from the perspective of someone who was totally against God at one point and whose life dramatically changed when they became a Christian. Does that make sense? Maybe some of you feel the same way. Anyway, a little while ago God put this thought in my head: If it is hard for me to fully appreciate grace from the perspective of being saved from who I was, then I should think of grace from the perspective of who it saved me from becoming. I realize that might have been hard to follow, so let me explain. When I was saved I was a little kid, so I didn’t really look back and regret my life before Christ, because frankly I don’t remember it. I can, however, think of who I might have become if Christ didn’t save me and that is a scary thought. Have you ever thought about who you would be without Christ? If you haven’t I’ll help you out. First, take all of your sinful tendencies and bring them to the forefront. You know, the bitterness or discontent you let slip out from time to time, or the selfishness you try to hide. Next, take all of your characteristics that are godly and get rid of them. Third, add in an addiction (money, success, drugs) for good measure. (Some of you didn’t need to do that exercise because you know who you were. Some of us, though, never went down that road by the grace of God, so this helps.) So now you have a picture of who you would be without Christ. It’s not pretty, is it. I got a picture of who I would be without Christ when I was reading “Gone With the Wind.” I know it’s random, but I would be exactly like Scarlett O’Hara. When I saw that and when I understood, my heart overflowed with gratitude. Thank you, Jesus, for who you saved me from becoming. I could be so lost, yet you found me before that happened. I understand grace a little better now.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain”
– I Corinthians 15:10a
Sometimes it’s hard for me to fully appreciate God’s grace and forgiveness because I was never a “bad person.” Part of the reason I would love an amazing testimony is because I want to understand grace from the perspective of someone who was totally against God at one point and whose life dramatically changed when they became a Christian. Does that make sense? Maybe some of you feel the same way. Anyway, a little while ago God put this thought in my head: If it is hard for me to fully appreciate grace from the perspective of being saved from who I was, then I should think of grace from the perspective of who it saved me from becoming. I realize that might have been hard to follow, so let me explain. When I was saved I was a little kid, so I didn’t really look back and regret my life before Christ, because frankly I don’t remember it. I can, however, think of who I might have become if Christ didn’t save me and that is a scary thought. Have you ever thought about who you would be without Christ? If you haven’t I’ll help you out. First, take all of your sinful tendencies and bring them to the forefront. You know, the bitterness or discontent you let slip out from time to time, or the selfishness you try to hide. Next, take all of your characteristics that are godly and get rid of them. Third, add in an addiction (money, success, drugs) for good measure. (Some of you didn’t need to do that exercise because you know who you were. Some of us, though, never went down that road by the grace of God, so this helps.) So now you have a picture of who you would be without Christ. It’s not pretty, is it. I got a picture of who I would be without Christ when I was reading “Gone With the Wind.” I know it’s random, but I would be exactly like Scarlett O’Hara. When I saw that and when I understood, my heart overflowed with gratitude. Thank you, Jesus, for who you saved me from becoming. I could be so lost, yet you found me before that happened. I understand grace a little better now.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain”
– I Corinthians 15:10a
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Surviving, Striving, and Thriving
I was lying on my bed and sobbing. Crying because it hurt so badly I could barely breath. Crying because God’s plan didn’t make sense…again. Have you been there? Has your heart been broken to the point where you wonder if it can ever be whole again? Have you watched a friend or family member die and been unable to do anything about it? Have you ever been betrayed or hurt by someone you respected or trusted? Have you ever walked through a valley of suffering? I have…many, many times. And, I’ve had to watch friends and family go through these times, which is also very hard. These are the times when all we can do is survive. It takes every ounce of strength we have to get out of bed in the morning, put one foot in front of the other and get through the day just trying to pretend that we’re not falling apart on the inside. We can’t reach out to people because we’re hurting too much ourselves. We can’t do ministry. We can hardly do anything without thinking of the pain. There are times when that’s okay. It gives us time to come to terms with what has happened and to start coping with it. That being said, I would suggest that a lot of people are in the survival mode most of their life, even when they shouldn’t be. They don’t like their current situation and do the bare minimum to scrape by at life. They don’t put any extra effort into anything; they don’t reach out to people; they don’t do ministry. All they can think about is how they would want things to be different. Do you know people like that? Are you one of those people? I don’t believe that is the way we should live as Christians. I believe there is a more excellent way.
Busy, busy, busy. We as Americans are always busy. If we aren’t we feel pressured to be. Our culture views work as a virtue. What we do defines who we are. We are always striving to do more and more. I know I am probably the most guilty person in this camp. I have definitely had my moments in the surviving camp, but I live here most of the time. Striving to do more. Striving to do better. People in this camp might not feel sorry for themselves, but they don’t reach out to people or do ministry either because they are just too busy to. Or, if they do one of those activities, it is planned into the schedule and it is done with the mindset of having just one more thing to cross off the list so they can move on to the next thing. This is a step in the right direction, but it is only half-way. At least we strivers are attempting to do something outside of ourselves, but we are also missing the point. I believe there is a more excellent way.
Thriving. How many of us can say we thrive on a daily basis? To answer that question it might be helpful to have a definition of what thriving looks like. I think it will be different for different people, but I think there are some concepts that are probably universal. Thriving involves enjoying life. I’ve never heard of a depressed person describe their life as “thriving.” Thriving involves being there for people whenever they need it, not just when it fits on your schedule. Thriving is blooming where you are planted, not wishing you were in another garden. It means taking your situation and making the best out of it. Most of all, thriving is being secure in Christ and having the joy that only a relationship with Him can bring. I think a lot people are waiting around for something to change in their life before they start attempting to thrive. My advice: Thrive now. Your situation might not change, but your perspective will.
What are your thoughts? Do you think this happens? I would love to hear what you have to say. Thanks for reading!
Busy, busy, busy. We as Americans are always busy. If we aren’t we feel pressured to be. Our culture views work as a virtue. What we do defines who we are. We are always striving to do more and more. I know I am probably the most guilty person in this camp. I have definitely had my moments in the surviving camp, but I live here most of the time. Striving to do more. Striving to do better. People in this camp might not feel sorry for themselves, but they don’t reach out to people or do ministry either because they are just too busy to. Or, if they do one of those activities, it is planned into the schedule and it is done with the mindset of having just one more thing to cross off the list so they can move on to the next thing. This is a step in the right direction, but it is only half-way. At least we strivers are attempting to do something outside of ourselves, but we are also missing the point. I believe there is a more excellent way.
Thriving. How many of us can say we thrive on a daily basis? To answer that question it might be helpful to have a definition of what thriving looks like. I think it will be different for different people, but I think there are some concepts that are probably universal. Thriving involves enjoying life. I’ve never heard of a depressed person describe their life as “thriving.” Thriving involves being there for people whenever they need it, not just when it fits on your schedule. Thriving is blooming where you are planted, not wishing you were in another garden. It means taking your situation and making the best out of it. Most of all, thriving is being secure in Christ and having the joy that only a relationship with Him can bring. I think a lot people are waiting around for something to change in their life before they start attempting to thrive. My advice: Thrive now. Your situation might not change, but your perspective will.
What are your thoughts? Do you think this happens? I would love to hear what you have to say. Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
