Take ACTION in 2018
Good Morning!
Oh, my goodness. Where do I even start?! A couple of weeks of not writing these messages and I feel like I have a train coming through of unsaid words and it’s like a traffic jam in my head of where to start!
The past couple of weeks have been a nice time to stop and think. To pray and listen. To think on the year and what went well and what could be better. To think on 2018 and where to focus.
I tend to be a pretty focused and driven person anyway, but one thing along the way that I’m learning is that with every step along the way to evaluate what is at the end of that road. As I always picture in my head, what building is my ladder leaning against? It is so easy to get caught in the rungs and not look up. Life can be so busy that we just cling on to the rungs and do whatever is thrown in front of us at the moment without actually looking up to see where we are going.
That is one of the reasons why this is one of my favorite times of the year. Time to refocus. Time to slow down and listen to what God is saying. I need that all year for sure. I have to force myself to sit down first thing in the morning to do that because my human nature is to cling to the rungs on the ladder and put my nose to the grindstone. But, that is not what this life is all about. Not even in the slightest.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has put a passion and desire in each of our hearts. We don’t get to see the whole picture and we cannot ever fathom what all God has in store for us.
One thing I know for sure is that when I CHOOSE to daily ask Him to guide me and to fulfill what He wants, He always gives me the direction. I don’t get the whole picture but I do know my next steps.
As I thought about 2018 and what I want to accomplish, I prayed for God to give me my focus. It has been clear all along but it becomes brighter and much stronger day by day: to glorify Him.
That’s it. I can get confused with a million different thoughts, projects, and plans but if they don’t bring glory to Him then I’m not in my purpose.
So, whether I am at work taking care of patients, or coaching people in health or washing dishes or folding laundry, I can glorify Him through my attitude and my excited anticipation in seeing what He is doing each day.
My areas I focus on tend to be the same each year but the goal is to glorify Him. So, even if I don’t know all the details, I know the One who does. How can my health glorify God? In choosing well what I put in my mouth, I will have the energy and strength to do what I need to do. How can my work glorify God? By seeing Him in the people I encounter each day, praying for them and watching for all His mini-miracles. How can my attitude glorify God? By praying in the moments that I’m going down the wrong road and my pouring in more of Him than what the world is trying to pour in.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. But we do have to take action. A vision of what God wants to do is a beautiful thing, but without action, it is dead.
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17
What is the action that you need to do and stop talking about for 2018? Let’s make this a year of action. Look to God each day. Live in the tension between waiting on Him and acting on what He places on your heart. I believe He is able!
jennie
