realigning resolutions
My friend Vic sent me this article and I'm pretty sure they titled it wrong. It should have been "JESS, stop seeking control through to-do lists, and stop expecting results right away". So convicted.
I had started this reflection process at the beginning of the year, and shared some thoughts in this post, but boy did I need these truths to be repeated to me today!
The notes app on my phone is filled with lists. To-do lists for school, to-do lists for church, to-do lists for work, books to read, places to try, countries to visit, lifetime bucket lists, Summer bucket lists, character flaws I want to address, people I need to call, and on and on. Everything.
My perfectionistic and control-freakish attributes definitely are involved in this. I have a goal in mind, and I set forth the steps to achieve them- and I don't want your help, thank you very much.
And, like many millennials, I want the results now.
I don't want to accept that curveballs will be thrown into the process of me checking off the items on my lists. And, practically speaking, I certainly don't seem to show any understanding that God is sovereign, and that He runs the show.
What a great reminder that:
Change is good. Change is growing. Change is development. The more we resist change, the more change resists us. The more we fight change, the more change fights us. God’s not finished with us yet; therefore, change is coming. Buckle up for the change that still awaits us.
Maybe my prayer for this Summer should be that I wouldn't be too focused on goals. This isn't to say that goal-setting is necessarily bad, but my outlook on them needs to shift from "I need to overcome these challenges" to a humble realization of my utter, complete need for God. I need to show grace to myself, I need to abandon patterns of jealousy and comparison, and I need to remember that sanctification and character development is about long-suffering in the same direction, curveballs and all. It is not about setting my mind to something and thinking I necessarily have what it takes to fulfill these objectives in the timeframe of MY choice (wouldn't that be nice).
Let us be reminded that we can ask for help, from our community and, most importantly, from our God who loves. Let us be reminded that He does not expect us to do things perfectly, and certainly not on the first try. Let us be reminded that our worth can't be measured by lists and achievements (how easily I forget this one!). Let us be reminded that even when we don't see results, He is at work. He always is.
It's all grace.
I had started this reflection process at the beginning of the year, and shared some thoughts in this post, but boy did I need these truths to be repeated to me today!
My perfectionistic and control-freakish attributes definitely are involved in this. I have a goal in mind, and I set forth the steps to achieve them- and I don't want your help, thank you very much.
And, like many millennials, I want the results now.
I don't want to accept that curveballs will be thrown into the process of me checking off the items on my lists. And, practically speaking, I certainly don't seem to show any understanding that God is sovereign, and that He runs the show.
What a great reminder that:
Change is good. Change is growing. Change is development. The more we resist change, the more change resists us. The more we fight change, the more change fights us. God’s not finished with us yet; therefore, change is coming. Buckle up for the change that still awaits us.
Maybe my prayer for this Summer should be that I wouldn't be too focused on goals. This isn't to say that goal-setting is necessarily bad, but my outlook on them needs to shift from "I need to overcome these challenges" to a humble realization of my utter, complete need for God. I need to show grace to myself, I need to abandon patterns of jealousy and comparison, and I need to remember that sanctification and character development is about long-suffering in the same direction, curveballs and all. It is not about setting my mind to something and thinking I necessarily have what it takes to fulfill these objectives in the timeframe of MY choice (wouldn't that be nice).
Let us be reminded that we can ask for help, from our community and, most importantly, from our God who loves. Let us be reminded that He does not expect us to do things perfectly, and certainly not on the first try. Let us be reminded that our worth can't be measured by lists and achievements (how easily I forget this one!). Let us be reminded that even when we don't see results, He is at work. He always is.
It's all grace.
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