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PROGRAM D-7166
One of the benefits of adding years to your life is that you really do learn a few things along the way—life lessons, if you will. I want to pass along ten life lessons I’ve learned, and perhaps they may be helpful to you.
Life Lesson No. 1: When you don’t know what to do, just take the next small step.
You know, life is full of turning points, small and large—times when you have to make a decision and you’re not sure about it. I’m not talking about black and white decisions, things that are clearly right or wrong. But other decisions like: Should I look for a new job or not? Should I offer to give this person some money? Is it time to sell my house?
Of course, prayer is our first order of business when we’re faced with decisions, and it’s always helpful to seek advice from trusted advisors. But I’ve often found that if I take the next small step and then see where that leads, I can usually tell whether it is the right thing or not. And sometimes I discover there really is no next small step; I would have to push and shove and maneuver to get to that next step. That’s always a red flag for me that says, “Slow down; make sure this is a good step to take.”
I think many people park-out at the starting line, thinking about what they might do, wanting to do something, but because of fear or double-mindedness, they never move. James says that a double-minded person is unstable in all her ways. Double-mindedness is that state of mind where we go back and forth and back and forth, but we never move forward! So, don’t be afraid to take that first step and see where it leads.
Life Lesson No. 2: If you will live in today, rather than yesterday or tomorrow, you can make it!
Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Most of our stress and depression comes because we live either in the past, with regrets and anger, or we live in fear of the future. God gives us the strength to cope with today, but we keep adding on the past and the future, and wonder why we can’t make it!
Yesterday is gone. You can’t change it; you can’t make it better. In Isaiah 43 the Lord said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing!” If you continually dwell on the past, you will miss the new thing God wants to do for you. Yesterday is over; let it go.
Tomorrow never comes. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday! Fear of the future will absolutely stop you from the good things God has for you.
So, pray daily that you will live in today, and then you’ll have the strength to make it through. It’s a matter of changing your attitude and your thought patterns.