Like millions of Americans, I watched the SuperBowl last night and saw the KC Chiefs get shut-down. Well into the game that team couldn’t find a way to move the ball. Their quarterback, Mahomes, was knocked down repeatedly, threw interceptions, and struggled visibly without much protection.
I wonder what he’s thinking today? Is some part of him saying “I’ve had enough?” or is he such a competitor that he is already planning a comeback?
Most of us, at some time in our lives when we have found ourselves so beaten up, overwhelmed, or disappointed that we are ready to say, 'I’ve had enough!' Who has not felt the temptation to just get in the car and drive away, leaving 'the problem' in our rearview mirror.
When we are accused of ulterior motives, or frustrated by inaction of others, or even disappointed in our own choices, the temptation find ‘greener pastures’ can grow strong. Don’t do it!
The worst time to make a decision for the future is when we are discouraged, frustrated, or angry! The pithy wisdom of Proverbs says, "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." (Proverbs 16:25, NLT) The course of action that 'makes so much sense' now, may look quite foolish a month from now when the pressure has let up.
Looking back over my life, I can see so many times when the greatest ‘wins’ came out of the renewed determination that followed the worst disappointments.
There are times when a strategic retreat is in order. When we are up against an unyielding foe, when nothing is going right, when everything we try to do meets with opposition- there's not a thing wrong with taking a breather. When we step away, for a day of prayer or take a week's vacation for renewal, it helps us to regain perspective. A prayer retreat, where we get alone with our thoughts and God, letting it all out with a flood of words (and maybe some tears, too), can help to restore us to effectiveness.
Never forget that when we come to the end of ourselves, God’s resources remain inexhaustible and, if we will trust Him and go steady on, He can accomplish amazingly wonderful things.
Remember Paul’s confession? He was knocked down, beat up, and rejected so many times in his work for Christ. There is so much encouragement in his honest assessment- “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1)
Are you
ready to walk off today,
concluding you are ‘not enough’
or that the situation is beyond redemption?
Find a way
to do a strategic retreat.
Find an honest confidante, not someone who will just tell you that you're right,
who will help you unravel the knots.
Go silent for a while, take a ride, go for a walk.
Give yourself time to regain reason.
The word from the Word comes from the writing of James. "So let endurance grow, for when it is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." (James 1:4-6, NLT)
Steady on, trusting God. He has a plan and a purpose!
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