“Handle paper once.”
The woman leading the training session was talking about how to
make an office efficient, how to keep the work stream flowing. She elaborated, “ Don’t
let things go. Finish things you start, whenever possible, before moving on to another
project.” That advice has stayed with me
and I try to follow it to this day. When I open mail, I process it instead of laying
it aside. I return phone calls on the same day that I
get them, if at all possible. It’s so
much better to start a new day looking ahead than working on yesterday’s
business. If a pile of half-done projects builds up around us, it can
leave us paralyzed, unwilling or unable to tackle any of them.
Does your life
have a bunch of unfinished business hanging around?
Are you unable to move forward confidently because
there are so many open projects tying you to yesterday?
We need to learn to finish well. It is not just business that we need to
finish. Unresolved conflicts and unkept
promises will weigh us down, too!
Do you feel like you are stuck, living the same day in time
over and over again? Sometimes life
feels like an endless loop, doesn't it? We awaken to meet the same
responsibilities, to go through the same chores, in the same ritual. Yes, of
course, there is routine in all of life. However, if we are not finding new
challenges, learning new things, and creating new opportunities, it may well be
because we have left behind too many things that are unfinished. It takes a lot of courage to look back on
life and see where we have walked away from a relationship without making
things right, without trying to work on reconciliation and/or understanding,
but it’s critically important to do so.
It’s hard to admit that we abandoned our responsibility at some point in
time and left people hanging. We need to
go back, re-examine something we have done, some experience we have gone
through, and put it to rest.
Failed? Accept responsibility, seek forgiveness, make
restitution; move on!
Been hurt? Offer forgiveness, release the person to God’s
justice, and leave it behind.
Left confused by disappointment? Can’t find an answer? You can keep circling the issue, stuck in
that moment, or you can consciously choose to leave it with God in faith, and
take up today’s work.
Sinned terribly against yourself, others, or God? You can live in perpetual regret, or you can
finish it! Yes, confession, defined in the
Bible as ‘saying the same thing about our actions that God says,’ allows us to
find His forgiveness. Asking another’s forgiveness, with sincerity, will often provide us a kind of freedom we did
not think was possible. We need to learn
to forgiven ourselves, too. That’s not
the same as excusing our sins. We look at our sin, face on, own it; then leave
it with the Lord.
God finishes His work!
You and I are “His workmanship.” The Word promises that He won’t walk
off leaving us in a mess. “I am sure that
God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is
finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again."
(Philippians 1:6, NLT)
At the end of his life, Paul reflected on the things he had
done in a letter to his protégé, Timothy. I aspire to living in a way that
these could be my words at the end as well. How about you?
"For I am already being poured out
as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is
laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved
His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:6-8, NKJV)
_________
Find Us Faithful
We're pilgrims on the
journey
Of the narrow road,
And those who've gone
before us
Line the way;
Cheering on the
faithful,
Encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring
testament
To God's sustaining
grace.
Oh may all who come
behind us
Find us faithful!
May the fire of our
devotion
Light their way!
May the footprints
that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.
Oh may all who come
behind us
Find us faithful.
Surrounded by so great
A cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race
Not only for the prize.
But, as those who've
gone before us
Let us leave to those
behind us
The heritage of
faithfulness
Passed on through
godly lives.
Jon Mohr
© 1987 Jonathan Mark Music (Admin. by Gaither Copyright
Management)
Birdwing Music (a div. of EMI Christian Music Publishing)
CCLI License # 810055
No comments:
Post a Comment