I aM mE
It Only Takes One
Go For What You Know
There are times in our lives when we are faced with decisions that may seem to "go against the grain" from what everyone else sees as normal or possible. These are the times that define us and solidify what we truly believe and stand for. I've learned that life is about growing and maturing, which may give us new "eyes" for certain things that we've seen differently in the past. But, our core principles should not change even with this growth. I am still the same person who has always placed my faith in God to open doors of opportunities for me, but now I realize that He is much more than that. I now see selfishness in only wanting the gifts without accepting the Giver. Going for what you know isn't always the easiest thing to do, especially when the people closest to you don't agree. Sometimes they will even go to extreme measures to discourage your efforts. Even our closest friends and family are jealous of our growth and fight hard to not be left in their misery without company. But, we must stick to our guns and do what we know is right. In 1 Samuel chapter 14, Jonathan's faith in God led him to take only his armor bearer with him into battle against the Philistine camp of about 20 soldiers. After receiving confirmation from God that it was okay to attack, (1 Samuel 14:8-11) Jonathan and his armor bearer headed towards the enemy camp to fight. God honored Jonathan's faith and caused the Philistines to begin fighting and killing themselves! Upon hearing the commotion, his father Saul became enraged that someone had attacked the enemy without his consent and sought to know who had done such a thing. After learning that it was his very own son, Jonathan, Saul commanded the priest to stop praying for him! (1 Samuel 14:19) Our history on Saul tells us that he was a very jealous man. He was jealous of the Israel's faith in David, Jonathan's friendship with David, and his own son's faith in God. This goes to show that even your closest of kin can be the culprit that is trying to bring you down. Regardless of what anyone says, we must do what we know God has laid on our hearts to do. Go For What You Know.
Defeat Does Not Mean I Am Defeated
Throughout my life, I have been faced with various situations that could have easily caused me to give in and give up. I'll be the first to admit, that picking myself up off the dirt has always been easier said than done, but knowing that it was necessary for my progression has generally helped lighten the blow. In sports, losing one game doesn't mean the entire season is gone to waste. How else do you explain being able to "lose the battle but win the war?" The same concept applies to the game of life. Setbacks, roadblocks, disappointments and some flat out defeats do not happen to make you quit; they're meant to be tools of growth and maturity. We have to utilize them as learning tools and gleen valuable lessons from them. What mistakes did I make? How can I do things better? If I can do things over again, what would I change? The problem is, we allow these disappointments to pin us down for the 3 count. We give up too easily. "Well, at least I tried" is a lot easier to say than "defeat doesn't mean I'm defeated." But, it's all in our minds. How mentally tough are we? Even then, there are still some things we have to speak into existance by literally telling ourselves that we can overcome our situation. I know some people will think we are crazy but so what? I takes being borderline crazy to have the resilency necessary to get the most out of life. Proverbs18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Life is not about what happens to us, it's about what we do in response to it.
How have you finally overcome an obstacle than once stood in your way?
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| Former U.S. Marine Anthony McDaniel lost both legs and an arm fighting for our country. |
How Am I Carrying My Load?
"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."
-Lou Holtz, National Championship Winning Football Coach and ESPN College Football Analyst
I know we can all think of a time when we planned a trip to somewhere nice and thought of all the activities that we wanted to take part in when we got there. We began filling up our suitcase with different types of clothes and shoes to fit every occasion. To our surprise, no matter how hard we try to zip it up, it just would not close. Being tempted to give up, we start taking things out to make room. As we start putting things back in place, we realize that the clothes and shoes had been previously thrown in the suitcase with no strategy, taking up more space than necessary. After repositioning our belongings, we found that everything we had packed before was now able to fit in the suitcase after all.
We face these same problems periodically in our minds. As humans, we tend to allow things such as doubt, anger, resentment and pride to cloud our judgement and affect our actions. It's hard, nearly impossible, to make sound decisions when our mind is being infiltrated with so many negative influences. Take the servant with only one talent for example. He let fear keep him from being productive with what he was given. When his master returned he was displeased with his servant's works, or lack thereof, and called him "wicked and slothful" (Matt 25:26). Some of us deal with anger issues. The wisest man to ever walk the Earth, Solomon, spoke on this very issue. He said, "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools" (Ecc 7:9). Anger can cause us to do things that we will later regret. It can cause us to hurt loved ones or take justice in our own hands, rather than letting God be the judge. I know I have said some things that I wish I could have taken back, but it was too late. Situations are only made more difficult by acting out of anger. The best course of action is to stop, look and listen. We need to STOP whatever is it we are doing, or planning to do, so that we can take another LOOK at the situation after we have had time to cool down. Finally, we should LISTEN to what God has to say about the matter. His wisdom far exceeds anything that we could ever hope to attain. He knows the outcome and possible ramifications of our actions if we continue the course we are on. So, when we feel life bringing us down, we should ask ourselves: "How Am I Carrying My Load?"
Just Get Over It
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If you have ever been wronged by anyone, especially someone you think highly of, then you know that forgiveness is easier said than done. We sometimes feel the need to make the other person feel the pain that we feel, or at least make sure they know how upset we are. How many of those times have you later realized the situation that you were upset over was simply a misunderstanding? Many friendships have been strained and ended because the two sides did not have a clear understanding. Even when certain things are said or done out of spite, we should learn to let them go. Forgiveness is not just for the other person, it is mainly for us. Often times the person who has done us wrong has gone on with their life while we are still harboring negative energy. It can eventually affect the way we treat other people. I've heard many people say that they cheat on their partners because of how hey were treated in a previous relationship; or, they bring memories of what happened previously and accuse their significant other of doing things they are not. The best thing to do is to JUST GET OVER IT. I have personally let past relationships cause me not to desire entering anymore. I felt that all relationships would end the same. I had to realize that those women were going on enjoying their lives while I was depriving myself of companionship. In essence, I was the only one suffering because of my unwillingness to forgive. We are not supposed to hold grudges against anyone. Jesus told the disciples in Luke 17:4, "If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' 'forgive him." We not only keep ourselves in bad moods by not forgiving others, we also block our blessings. God will not trust us with His "good and perfect" gifts if we do not possess the heart to treat it how He wants. The only way to be in a position to receive His gifts is to, "Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12). Since it is impossible to possess these traits without having a forgiving heart, I guess we are forced to JUST GET OVER IT.
Tell me about a time that you have been wronged by someone you really cared for. How did it affect your relationship with that person? did you ever JUST GET OVER IT and forgive them?
Excuses, Excuses
I am proud to say that this blog post marks the 1 year anniversary of Random Thoughts!!!!
How many times have you had things that needed to be done but tried to find every reason not to? Then, we try to justify our procrastination with little EXCUSES that we know are menial. This is typically the case for me when it is time to hit the gym. I think of every reason why I should put it off until tomorrow. "I'm tired from work. It looks like it's going to rain. I need to organize some paperwork. I have things I need to write." But, the truth is, I know that working out will not interfere with the majority of these things, and I probably won't end up doing the other ones anyway. We are definitely not the first people to make up excuses for not wanting to do something. Even Moses tried to use the old "My dog ate my homework" trick when God commanded him to return to Egypt and declare that the Pharaoh release the Hebrews from bondage. "Moses said to the Lord 'O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.' The Lord to said to him, 'Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?'" (Exodus 4:10-11) What we fail to realize is the fact that these are the times that we need to get up and do it anyway! These are the situations that test our will power and determination. It is in these instances that we build mental strength and recognize our true capabilities. My college coach always preached to us about discipline and mental toughness. He said that mental toughness would keep us focused even when we are tired. Being tired doesn't always refer to a physical state; it more often refers to our mental state of being. We can't allow our minds to control us, but instead, control our minds. Our flesh acts like a spoiled brat-- it whines whenever it doesn't get its way. That's why our stomach starts to growl and head starts to hurt whenever we fast. Our body is throwing a temper tantrum and it is the responsibility of our mind to overpower it. I can remember many hot summer days in college during conditioning drills when my body told me to quit. It was over 100 degrees, I was tired, and my lunch felt like it was about to come back up. I had remember that I was working towards something that was more significant than the pain I was feeling at the time. The same was true for Moses. He tried to use his speech as an excuse to stop him from delivering an entire nation! The only way for us to be better than average is to stop making excuses and JUST DO IT!
Have you ever let an excuse stop you from accomplishing something that you later wish you had done?
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