I’ve got a challenge for you. I want you to think about some important issue you need to work on but have been avoiding or not really trying hard enough on it. I’m guessing something has already come to mind. It’s possible that you could create a whole list of issues, or maybe it’s just one or two.
Now I want you to ask yourself, “what’s holding me back from dealing with it/them?” Most of the time, what’s holding you back is, well, YOU. There’s a whole lot of people that carry around a self-defeating attitude. We’re our own worst enemy. That has to stop.
Today, I want to challenge you to start doing something about these issues, so that you can get moving on with your life. It’s going to be hard, and it might take a long time. But we need to do something about it, starting today.
If the issue is your health and you haven’t seen the doctor lately, make an appointment. When was the last time you got your blood checked? I know sometimes those visits/tests can be kind of scary, but I think I’m more scared of not knowing.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve learned that I have to be my own health care advocate. I need to be informed, and I need to take care of myself. If you are overweight and continue to eat at fast food restaurants, you need to stop. There is an unbelievable amount of data out there that shows the harmful effects of our poor eating habits. But no one is forcing you to eat that food. Stop. What health issue can you start working on today?
If the issue is your finances, get control of them. Do you have a budget? Do you have any idea where all the money is going? I know this is an area that I’m personally working on right now. I met with a financial planner last week, and have begun, after a very long hiatus, to start putting money aside for retirement. I just can’t wait anymore to do this. I can’t go backwards and try to make up for what I haven’t done. I can only go forward and become disciplined with my money. What are some things you can do to watch what you are spending?
If the issue involves a relationship, what can you do today to begin to improve it? Last week, I was talking to a group of teenagers about something called the “cube of love.” Basically, the cube has different sayings on each side related to love. Not just an ordinary kind of love, but the kind of love that marks us as a Christian. A person throws the cube, and whatever is written on the top of the cube when it lands is the challenge that day for the person. My favorite one is “be the first to forgive.” What a great thing to be doing. You don’t need to have your own cube of love to start being the first to forgive.
Maybe the issue with with your employment. You’re just not happy with what you’re doing. At this point, I think anyone with a job paying a decent wage should be grateful to have it. But that doesn’t mean we should be trapped. Are you trying to do your job better? How can you improve your skills, or learn something new that might be of benefit to your present employer, or a future one?
These are only a few issues that many of us are avoiding, and maybe you can’t relate to any of them. But I know that all of us has something we are not fully dealing with. No matter what the issue, it’s time to start working on it.
My point in all this is that we have to start taking responsibility for ourselves. We can’t wait for someone else to make it all better. With God’s help, He will make something new of us. That’s His promise. More than likely, though, He’s asking us to do our part too.
I hope that you will open to taking a look at those things you’ve been avoiding, and make a commitment to begin the process of working on them. We can’t just sit around waiting for something to happen. If we wait too long, I think we’ll have too many regrets to count.
Start believing in yourself! Have confidence in the Scripture passage found in the Prophet Isaiah (43:19) from where the theme of this blog comes from, “See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.”
