To Do or Not To Do, that is the Choice
FMF prompt: goal
Upon sitting down to write for this prompt the first thing that came to me was the quote from Yoda;” do or don’t do there is no try.”
That strikes me as to give it your all no matter if you think you can do it or not.
As I was looking at this quote up there was another one that said failure is our best teacher.
Which is very interesting, how often do we ‘not try’ because we are afraid of failure.
How many times do we not set goals because we might fail, or not commit to things because we are afraid to fail?
When we see failure as simply a lesson, or a steppingstone; we can grow, become stronger and more knowledgeable to do it the next time.
I think of the great inventors, how many times did they fail before they got it right.
They had a goal, a dream, a desire, and passion.
And they stopped at nothing to see that come to fruition.
The next quote that came to my mind was;
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
Funny thing it is credited to many people but I think the original person was Norman Vincent Peale.
Many people see this quote to mean, aim high and if you miss you have accomplished more than if you don’t aim at all.
As I was reading, I realized there is more to this quote, one person unraveled it this way… the sun is our nearest star and it is much further out than the moon.
So, If you shoot for the moon you may actually go much further than you think you will, even if you miss the moon (your original goal).
That just comes under things that make you go hmmm.
These things make me think of “to do” lists, this is a very common tool we use to accomplish goals in our everyday life. It also can serve as a motivational device, especially for those of us who like the feeling of checking things off the list.
We are all very familiar with ‘to do’ lists whether they are written down or just in our heads we all have them.
Last year I was going through a very difficult time and was not motivated much at all.
I came across this verse that was a wonderful revelation to me and it became my prayer.
For it is God
who works within you
both
to will and to do
his good pleasure. (Phil 2:13)
He works in us BOTH to will and to do.
What an amazing verse when you deal with discouragement, or depression… this can be a handlebar to help pull you up out of that miry pit.
It is so cool because God loves to hear us pray His word back to him
And because it is His word you know that if you are asking Him to do this you will definitely get a yes.
The more I get into His word the more I love Him, He really cares for our everyday lives and He gives us nuggets from his word both to encourage and sustain us.
God’s Word is the armory of the Christian faith; we go into it and find the weapons and the armor we need to defeat the battles both within and without.
Not only that but we have a precious teacher/ intercessor/comforter/friend living right inside us and can bring to remembrance exactly what we need if we are listening.
As true as this is there are many times in our lives or loved one’s lives that we hear it said, I just don’t know what to do, or what are we going to do.
Those words are often accompanied by great confusion, swirling emotions, and helplessness.
In our armory, there are things that can and will help if we can still the whirlwind in our mind long enough to tell our fluttering heart that He has got this, and He knows every detail of your situation and what you need.
No matter what He has you in the palm of his hand
That doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen to us, but it does mean that He will see us through and not only that, but He will weave it together to make some good, some benefit to your life. I am not suggesting that a car wreck or a sickness, or losing a loved one are good, not at all.
But God can and does work in those situations to bring benefit to your life, it could be restored relationships, it could be compassion for others that you could have never imagined.
He will hold you through the grief and bring you out the other side.
Shutter, I really would have never thought I would use the word grief in an article entitled “to do”,
I think most of us would like that to be “or not to do”.
Regardless He will see you though.
Trusting Him is on the top of the ”to do” list, easy to say until you are standing on the water and the waves are lapping at your kneecaps.
In my limited experience, I have learned that one way to develop trust is, beginning to recognize the everyday things that God gives us daily.
Looking for them on purpose.
God hunt sightings
I was introduced to this strategy many years ago by a program in which we were instructed for 30 days to have ‘God hunt sightings.’
We were instructed to, on purpose, look for places in our lives that God was actively at work.
Simple things… the right parking spot, protection from a crazy driver, a rainbow to encourage your heart, a song that soothed your spirit, a note from a friend.
That was a pivotal time in my life, wherein God was no longer just the Judge of everything, far removed from my trials and struggles but became God who was interested in my life, every single moment of every single day and went out of his way to continuously remind me of that, if I would but pay attention.
Just a funny little thought, if people can look for demons under every rock why can’t we acknowledge God in every action of our lives.
In fact, that last statement would make a good first priority on our daily “to do” list.
I was prompted this morning to make a “Christian to-do list” I had a lot of fun doing it and it was an amazing encouragement to me.
What about prayer?
I left out one huge thing from my list, it was a mistake to leave it off, and it happened because we take it for granted, that is prayer.
Prayer is meant to be like breathing, we do it almost without thinking about it, He is our best friend who walks with us and talks with us (someone is singing).
Do we think, oh I should talk to my friend that is walking with me…no not normally? We just do it.
And also, there are times when we need to sit down with our friend and have a serious heart to heart and listen to him too.
I am learning that prayer is not just praying but it should be listening too.
And wow, that could be another thing on the list… listening.
Our ”to do” lists can go on forever, but the important thing to do is
Start, thus the name ‘to do’!
This is where choice comes in, there are people who love to make lists simply for the point of making a list but seldom do anything with them.
Many times, we have a list, written or not written and yet we choose to play games or watch tv instead. Those are choices.
Again, this is where this verse blesses me so much…
He BOTH works to will and to do
He can help me with the will part, the choice part, if I will pay attention to that wonderful still small voice that says psst its time do something else.
The “to do” list is to do, not to think about not to obsess over or worry how you will ever get it all done, but to start somewhere, to accomplish something.
Learning to do what we can and release the rest to God, knowing that tomorrow is another day and He gives us new mercies and new energy to begin again
Thank you so much, God, that when we have a “to do” list from you, you not only help us to will to do it, but you help us carry it out.
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