Don't get tired doing what makes you a happier and healthier person. There will be days that are uneventful and seem unproductive. Sometimes we question whether we really make a difference in who we are in this world - the roles we have here on this earth. We question if these new commitments to ourselves at the beginning of the year are really going to stick or are we going to fall back into bad habits and old routines.
I am a wife, minister, teacher, daughter, sister, auntie, friend and in these roles alone, I question at times if I am holding my weight. That same question is asked whether I am really making a difference. Does it make a difference to go above and beyond for a friend who seems to only want to be heard and not to change? Does it make the difference to forgive and love one's spouse without expecting anything in return? Does it make a difference to plan and push ministries forward when you feel like you are not seeing the fruit right away? There is plenty of frustration when current reality does not reflect our hopes and expectations, when our present is not what we saw in our dreams.
Sometimes current reality can seem to deflate us - to pacify us with being complacent. I encourage you to accept current reality but live and operate above it.
Good things take time to grow and come to full fruition just like crops, relational healing and restoration, rebuilding a body's stamina and strength. We need to hold on to God's words and call when moments in life get difficult.
I encourage you today to stay striding and moving forward each day even if you feel like you are not seeing immediate results. If you fall, fall forward. Something is better than nothing. The beautiful thing about serving a God of grace is tomorrow is a new day! Good things come in time, so don't rush the process and do not be pacified to grow complacent. Keep striving for the changes you want to see in 2017 even if you do not see fruit right now. Keep planting and sowing, our evidence and reminder of a more fulfilled tomorrow.
TAKE AWAY:
1. If what you see (current reality) is not what you saw (hopes and dreams), you have not arrived to where God has called you to. Keep pushing forward.
2. Don't allow current reality pacify you to complacency.
MEDITATION:
“9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”
“Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;”
DAILY CHALLENGE:
1. What do you want to see come to pass this 2017? How could you endure to keep your commitment?
2. When you begin to grow weary in doing what God has called you to do, who could you reach out to? Who is your community to support you in following your dreams?
3. If you do not have a community, find a community of friends that you can connect, grow, and belong.