When you become convinced God loves you completely and unconditionally, then you can trust him.
When you trust him with today and all your tomorrows, then you can obey him. When you obey him that opens up a world of opportunities and a life of peace and adventure.
Steven Covey, in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, makes the classic statement; “Begin with the end in mind.” It simply means to visualize your final objective. Another way of saying it is to think, “What do I want the final result to be.”
A farmer who plans his year is thinking, “What kind of a harvest do I want to have?” Of course there are a lot of variables for a farmer; rain, insects, cost of labor and fuel, fertilizer, etc. But there are still a lot of things left to his responsibility.
He must choose quality seed, upgrade his equipment, plan the timing, and choose the best time to prepare the soil and planting. And most of all, be prepared to work hard. He can’t leave the harvest to chance or when it is easy.
The construction worker has in mind the end result of the house he is building and follows those plans accordingly. He must plan ahead to order the materials, where the electric outlets will be, the water lines, and the location of the heat and air conditioning vents.
Every parent looks at their newborn child and shudders at the new responsibility he/she faces. They dream of the mature, responsible, God-fearing adults they will become. If they are wise they will do all they can to develop parenting skills, model good character before them, demonstrating the kind of love that they would like to see reproduced in their child.
The newly married couple doesn’t leave their marriage to chance. They don’t say “Oh, everything will work out. We love each other and we will do on-the-job training.” The Apostle Peter says, “Husbands consider your wives.” That means, learn all you can about the needs and expectations of your wife. Examine your tendency to be self-seeking and prideful.
For college freshmen it might mean asking, “What kind of person do I want to be when I graduate?” I can do just enough to get by and party-hardy, or is my desire to graduate, having done my best with what I have? Do I want to learn how to serve? As a follower if Christ, I must realize that I am to be onmission for Him; yes, even in my college days.
To look at the end from the beginning is to set some goals and do some adding and subtracting; adding some things to your schedule which may require discipline and inconvenience, and subtracting some things which would distract and divert your course.
Most of us get offbalance at some point. We may come to a “crisis of belief” when we wonder if God knows us and if we know God. Don’t trust your emotions. Learn to live on His promises. There are many, but two of my favorites are, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path. Prov. 3:5,6. The second is Matt. 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.”
To comment, email jhm82@outlook or call (580) 772-2311.