I Quit Hurrying
Thomas Edison once said, “Being busy does not always mean real work.” Hurrying around has become a way of life for us. We hurry to get in front of someone in the grocery store line. We shout at the driver in front of us because he/she isn’t going fast enough. This penchant to focus on unimportant things isn’t new. It showed up in Jesus’ time when He visited the house of Martha and Mary. Martha was consumed with the details of His visit while Mary was consumed with simply letting Jesus pour Himself into her life. We also must learn to slow down and rest in Jesus.
I Quit Hiding
Many of us find it hard to face God immediately after we have sinned. Like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:1-21, we feel the need to try and hide from God. We hide in fear and shame instead of believing the promise that God’s desire is for us to draw close to Him. In spite of our sin, God still looks for us and calls out to us. He seeks us, even though we are tainted by sin. Let us not be afraid to turn to God in our need. He offers us reconciliation and freedom from our sin.
I Quit Complaining
It is human nature to complain, grumble and groan about our circumstances. Even the Israelites complained about the manna God provided for them daily while they were wandering in the wilderness. “But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” Numbers 11:6 (NIV) We live in a world that is high pressure, fast paced and very complex. These things have contributed to negativity in our hearts and minds. C.S. Lewis wrote, “I have noticed that the most balanced minds praise the most, while the cranks and the misfits and the malcontents, they are the ones who are the least grateful.” Because of Jesus and what He did for us by dying on the cross to save us from our sins, we have every reason to be grateful. Gratitude and grace should be our reactions to whatever we are dealing with in life, good or bad. The grace of God makes us complete and we should feel gratitude each and every day.
I Quit Comparing
Comparing ourselves to others is not a new practice. Cain compared his offering of “fruits of the soil” to his brother’s, Abel’s “firstborn animals of his herd” and found his gifts to be less important than Abel’s. How did he handle his disappointment, his feelings of inadequacy, his anger? He killed his brother. The consequences of comparing yourself to others might not be as drastic as what Cain did but as Teddy Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”