How Much Better Should We Be Okay With?

A little while ago I got back from my morning walk…
My progress wasn’t tracked in Nike+. (I have several friends who do this and for some it’s really helped them in reaching their goals.)
▪    I didn’t get cheers from Facebook Likes or comments.
▪    I don’t know exactly to the meter how far I went.
▪    I’m not quite sure how much faster I’m walking my route now than when I started it last month.  But I’m okay with that.
Rather than the accuracy these things would bring,  instead I have the quiet and strong confidence that my life is better…
▪    for having got out of bed earlier than I would have
otherwise.
▪    for having some quiet time to myself before most of
the rest of the world was awake.
▪    because I had the opportunity to take pictures.
▪    for having the chance for an uninterrupted chat with
my Heavenly Father before I talked with anyone else.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not against goal-setting nor do I have a vendetta against technology helping us be better people and attain higher levels of excellence. (By the way, I assure you, the irony of having my cell phone with me to capture the picture in the quietness of the morning is not lost on me.)
Rather, I’ve been convicted of late that I simply don’t have to “have it all together,” that I don’t have to feel like I have “all my ducks in a row.” Without a doubt there are certain hills to die on, principles to stand for, and my God to joyfully trust and obey.
However, if I tracked everything that’s within my power to track (that’s a lot of things, by the way, when you couple high-tech availability with my often OCD-like tendencies) I would go berserk… and if you’re honest with yourself, you would too.
Lately, my daily time in the Scriptures has been enhanced by tracking with the devotional book for men entitled In Quietness and Confidence by David Roper.  In the book, Roper reminds his readers to value confidence over accuracy, character over results… and I agree with him.  There are some things I simply don’t need to know, some things I need to stop pursuing.
I can just rest in my Heavenly Father’s arms, realizing that He knows the way ahead and I don’t always need to.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
“It is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)
Having these blessed assurances, knowing it’s God doing the leading and growing and not me, most days I need to be okay with simply being farther along, better than the day before. I don’t have to be so many seconds, X number of meters, or a certain percentage better.
How about you?  How freeing is this thought for you?
Or, does it scare the life out of you?

Given by permission by Charlie Lyons –   www.charlielyons.ca

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