Gee whiz, it's been ten days since I've written here. How on earth did that happen? What is happening to my days that seem to zip by at warp speed...only to leave me wondering why I haven't crossed off any of the twenty-seven items on my to do list? Sigh.
Well, I could sit here and bemoan my lack of organizational and time management skills (which is sadly part of my problem. Double sigh.) Or I could chalk it up to laziness and inertia (which, let's face it, we're all afflicted with from time to time.) Or I could look for excuses to justify my busyness...like the hectic start of the school year, the beginning of Bible study (and lecture writing--a total privilege and joy, but an awful lot of time and work), the new season of "Dancing with the Stars" and "Poldark" (Okay, not really...or at least I'll only blame Poldark.) Or I could simply throw up my hands in surrender to all of the above, give up the whole shebang, and go eat large quantities of chocolate.
Anybody understand the feeling? Anybody feel like making excuses for failing to do that which you want to do and know you should do...but haven't done? Anybody experiencing an attack of the lazies...or the laters (as in "I'm fixin' to think about possibly doing it tomorrow...or the day after")? Anybody tempted to quit in discouragement?
Okay, maybe not, but just in case, maybe we need to do a little preaching to ourselves. If God's called us to do it, He will help us to complete it. God's callings are always His enablings.
And one thing I know for sure--we serve a Lord who perseveres and never, ever quits. Lest we ever forget, all we need to do is look to the cross. "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself so that yo may not grow weary or fainthearted." (Heb.12:1-3) Amen!
I tell you what--we can quit as soon as Jesus quits, alright?...which is NEVER, EVER!
How about some food from the Word to feed our hearts and strengthen our souls--
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Gal.6:9)
"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken." (Ps.55:22)
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor.4:16-18)
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Dt.31:8)
"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil.4:19)
And finally, "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil.1:6)
Alrighty then. We can trust in our never-failing, all-powerful Almighty God and His always true, life-giving, strength-infusing, supernatural Word...or we can trust in our ever-vacillating, unpredictable, and unreliable emotions. One way leads to hope, joy, peace, perseverance, divine empowerment, and deep soul satisfaction. The other leads to discouragement, ineffectiveness, stress, and soul emptiness. Hmm. Not a tough choice.
Time to look to the Lord, trust in His faithfulness, rely on His power, and then, get busy doing what He's called us to do! And yes, it's ALL HIM. All by His power. All by His grace. All for His glory. But He does call us to do what we can do...and then He does ALL that we cannot do. (Although, here's the amazing part: even what we think we can do, well, that's really only because He's the One who enables us to do it!)
Whatever that "thing" is that you know God's putting His finger upon right now, why don't you ask Him to enable you to get up off the couch, ask for His forgiveness for procrastinating till now, pray for His enabling power and wisdom, trust in His perfect provision and presence...and then get going! It's never too late to start anew.
To God be the glory.
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