Do Something But Not Everything

Sometimes we feel as if much of life is a waste of time.  There is so much that is lost amid our many preoccupations.  It seems impossible to make every moment count.  We procrastinate, we daydream and we "while away" the time.  So little of our attention is directed toward things that really matter.  Often our focus is diverted to that which is peripheral and inconsequential.  There is so much to do, and we do not have the time and energy to do it.  There is so much to say and not enough words to say it.  Where will we find the will to be all we are capable of being?  Where is the heart for the difficult task and the perseverance for the weary journey?

It is easy to give up when our vision exceeds our resources.  Discouragement sets in when we see so much and accomplish so little.  Often it is the cause for doing nothing.  Why should we spin our wheels and never make progress toward our destination?  If we cannot do everything, why do anything? Failure comes in different packages.  Sometimes it is an over exaggerated ambition.  We lose ourselves before we get started.  We bite off more than we can chew.  We focus on the finishing before we have prepared for the beginning.  Too much ambition can be as bad as no ambition.  Often the results are the same.

Our greatest achievements may not come in trying to do everything, but in doing a few things well.  Our greatest lessons may be in learning our weaknesses as well as our strengths.  The ability to accept our limitations may equip us to highlight our possibilities.  No one can be best at everything.  Everyone can enjoy being who they are and how their gifts define them.  Life is too short to be frustrated by the impossible.  It is long enough, however, to pursue the possible and celebrate the joy of doing our best.

We are blessed indeed when we find the power to persevere at the level of our personal performance.  Our most depressing sin is trying to do more than or less than we can do.  Our most promising virtue is to work and to put our work in a wholesome perspective as we leave the rest to God.

Based on an article by Pastor Calvin Metcalf

ON BEING CONSISTENT

One of the most imposing challenges of the Christian life is the ability to be consistent.  In many ways, we are all walking paradoxes.  There are often strange contradictions in our Christian behavior as well as our Christian conversation.  We study God's word and we try to hide His laws in our hearts, yet somehow we are never able to fully perform in keeping with His will.  Our spiritual ambition is to be Godly, but we often reflect that which is Satanic.  We tend to live in the tension of what we know is right and the reality of what we actually do.  Our conduct is characterized more by our selfish inclinations than by the sacrificial love of Jesus.  We want to be servants, but we act like masters.  We love the Lord, yet we despise some of His people.  We search the scriptures for eternal life and then use them as a vehicle for debate.  We want God to be patient with us in our iniquity, yet we harshly judge others who equally qualify for His grace.

The truth of the matter is we are inconsistent creatures struggling to be stable and compatible with God's will for our lives.  Even though, at times, our Christian talk and our Christian walk are not the same, there is hope.  The fact that we struggle to be consistent is evidence of the Holy Spirit's activity.  There is hope in the sincerity of our repentance as we share our frustrations with God.

Our Lord Jesus understands what it is like to be human and thus He longs to lead us "in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."  Our Lord does not condone our fickle faith, but He does encourage us to believe that we can be more than what we have been.  Sometimes we feel like crying with the apostle Paul, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"  His answer and our answer is, "through Jesus Christ our Lord."  To confess our inconsistencies is to discover divine resources and forgiveness.