February 22, 2021 – Click here to listen
I have been plunking away on the guitar for more years than I can remember. I have learned that in order to play respectable, (at least for me) it takes years and not weeks or months. Sometimes it is intimidating and downright depressing to see some of the great players playing flawlessly with ease. I watched a documentary not long ago concerning the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. I always was in awe of their tremendous band and in particular the guitar playing and such great songs as Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird. I discovered from the documentary that they practiced seven days a week from very early in the morning until very late at night. They did this literally for years. I was greatly surprised at the discipline they showed.
It kind of reminds me of working out with weights. Most newcomers come to the gym and are intimidated by all those ripped bodies and bulging muscles. What those who have worked out for years understand is that everyone starts out without a beautiful body and an overload of strength. It occurs over a long period of hard work and disciplined time taking it one day at a time. Steady improvements require the self-discipline of working out on a defined schedule and not allowing anything to deter you from your goal of being healthy and looking the best you can.
So do you have some unrealized spiritual goals? Nothing you will ever accomplish will be of more value in the long run than work expended towards building God’s kingdom. If you don’t have a goal then set one.
I have learned in life that in order to achieve anything worthwhile or significant the degree of success is contingent directly upon the level of hard work and self-discipline expended and realizing that great wars are not won in a day. We must abide by a few simple rules to achieve our goals. First and foremost we must realize that it is in effect a journey. Any journey has perils and valleys along the way and its share of victories and peaks. God designed it that way and it is important to enjoy each day of the journey and not get discouraged when it doesn’t go as fast as we like.
Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Motivational speaker Tony Robbins wrote, The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. I agree and would say the first step is to begin the journey.
Step two is to keep at it and don’t quit or get lazy. Martin Luther King Jr said, “If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means keep moving.”
Step three is to measure your success. Robert Louis Stevenson said, Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. In kingdom building this could not be better said. You may never even know if the seed was harvested, but just keep sowing.
I have been writing Words for the Day five days a week for going on 23 years. Some days I’m sick and don’t feel well or am exhausted but I write it. Some days it interferes with other responsibilities or doing something fun, but I write it. I feel God wants me to write it and my desire is to please Him. God has laid it on my heart to write this post daily and to be led by the Holy Spirit each morning and while a particular post might not appeal to you it is exactly what someone else needed to hear that day. I know this from the correspondence I receive daily. That is how the Holy Spirit operates. God takes the seeds we plant and uses them according to His purpose and glorious plan. Though we may never see it or meet those who are impacted by our efforts never think it goes unnoticed by God who sees everything 24/7 and beyond.
Proverbs 15:3
“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good”