Letting go of past grudges, anger, rivalries, and the like is not always an easy proposition. However, it is detrimental to linger too long in the past and allow those circumstances to impact us now unduly. While certain traumatic events, substantial losses, or even severe trials take time to move beyond, we need to rely on God’s help to heal wounds of that nature (1 Peter 5:7). Perhaps the only way to extricate ourselves from the entanglement of our past is to forgive someone or seek to be forgiven by them to maintain peace (Hebrews 12:1-2). Knowing that God has forgiven the unforgivable in us should inspire us to extend that same grace to other people that come in and out of our lives (Ephesians 4:32). There is no need to maintain a perpetual confrontation with someone, even on serious matters. Furthermore, if we set aside our pride, we can recognize that trivial issues are often the culprit of unnecessary friction in an otherwise amicable relationship with people. God has called us to the ministry of reconciliation after all, and in many cases, this is often the only way we can pursue peace with all people (2 Corinthians 5:12-22, Hebrews 12:14).
In other instances, the issue may be to come to terms with the loss of a loved one. There comes the point where after a season of grieving, we must accept that they have passed away and continue to live our lives (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Any setback we face, no matter how big or small it is in the eyes of others, may pose a significant problem to us. However, regardless of whether others understand our difficulty, we cannot allow anything to compromise the mission God has placed in our hearts to fulfill here on earth. It would be an injustice in the eyes of God to live indefinitely with a disposition of anger, bitterness, or grudge to the detriment of God’s plan for us (Ephesians 4:31-32). While we should never minimize our battles or belittle others, it is also a significant error and threat to our well-being to allow an unreasonable amount of time to elapse with this kind of mindset. Of course, this is a subjective matter, and we do well to consider it on a case-by-case basis. Preferably with a firm reliance on God, prayer, and His supernatural strength to help us overcome the circumstances at hand.
Thinking about the frailty of life encourages me to make sure I am in right standing with God and redeem the time accordingly (Ephesians 5:15-16). It may also provoke a sense of obligation in us to reach out to our loved ones with the truth of the Gospel (Matthew 28:16-20). While we cannot force anyone to come to saving faith, our responsibility to share God’s Word includes reaching out to family and friends, too, not only those that show up at our Churches on Sundays. Finally, if we acknowledge that time is scarce, it will give us that sense of urgency we desperately require to take action in terms of evangelism. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are indeed few (Matthew 9:35-38). Every effort we make for the glory of God, and the building of His Kingdom is crucial for us to pursue.
I find it helpful to remind myself to take breaks to step back from a constant cycle of works for God and enjoy leisure time. While it can be enriching to serve God consistently, we need to recognize our limitations and avoid burnout to be most effective. As such, no matter your calling, it is critical to get ample rest and have a firm understanding of what you can take on without overexerting. I love to write, but it even mentions specifically in God’s Word that, “In the writing of many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh (Ecclesiastes 12:12).” Suffice it to say that if we take care of ourselves and go back to diligently pursuing God’s plans, we will do much better. I, for one, had to learn this lesson the hard way, but I have since learned that I can do a great deal better in service to God by balancing this out according to my needs.
We all have varying strengths and weaknesses too, so this is often a matter of getting better acquainted with ourselves and essentially how God has wired us to operate. For example, you may thrive in getting up early, having a schedule set in stone, and working on a highly defined program. On the other hand, others of us may do better with setting daily priorities that we tackle in a less detailed approach as far as the timetable is concerned. Many people firmly believe that breakfast is the most critical meal of the day. Meanwhile, I skip breakfast daily and implement intermittent fasting with my workout routine. Due to these dynamics, there is no one size fits all approach to successfully managing our daily agenda.
In any case, depending on your line of work and particular responsibilities, this may not always be a luxury you can offer yourself. That said, you can better cope with your schedule when you know how you excel most of the time. Some employers may even be glad to adjust your hours if you make a good case for improving your productivity under certain conditions. In the end, I would suggest that you try to get to know yourself before you experience burnout, anxiety, or excessive stress. It is better to cross out a few items from your to-do list than to do them all and be out of commission for a while because you were overzealous.
In the fast-paced world, we live, it is easy to get caught up in the future at the expense of appreciating the present. That said, I am not knocking preparation for the future. On the contrary, I think that is a wise thing to do. Goals and plans on how to execute those goals, and having a rough idea of where you want to be 1, 3, 5, and 10 years from now makes perfect sense. It is good to have a general vision for the course of your life, yet always remain flexible to what surprises God may have in store for you. I refer to constantly thinking about what is coming overshadowing your enjoyment today (Matthew 6:34).
One practical way I employ to do this is to make it a point to minimize my phone use when I am around family and friends. I want to give them the gift of my attention and enjoy their company. This minor adjustment can make a huge difference, and your loved ones will take notice of it. Instagram and Facebook will be there tomorrow. I know I check them too often, but setting them aside when I work on writing, editing videos, and sleep has been a blessing to me for a while now. Instead of provoking myself to scroll endlessly, it helps me improve my focus and attention span. Not having my phone on my bedside or putting it in sleep mode, and being disciplined about not touching it, has enhanced the quality of my sleep. There is still a ton of room for me to improve in this one area, but I find these incremental adjustments work well.
It does not take revolutionary changes with extreme effort on an isolated day to improve your life. Instead of drastic adjustments, small changes in the right direction are less intimidating to implement. If you had never been hiking or mountain climbing, but someone told you that you would need to climb Mt. Everest in a week, you would probably find it amusing and dismiss it as a joke. Yet, some who have made it one of their life goals decided that reaching the apex would be a manageable challenge and completed that monumental task. To them, it was a matter of preparation for the future. They acclimated to that extreme by executing a series of more minor challenges that eventually prepared them to tackle it.
You and I may not care to climb Mt. Everest, but I know that each of us tends to have desires that are crucial for us to obtain. It could be anything, but it may involve personal fitness, career goals, or a desire to learn more about God’s Word, to name a few possibilities. These will not achieve themselves, so we need to plan to make these dreams a reality. They also necessitate a certain degree of desire that excels the pain or sacrifice involved with their achievement. For example, if I value my leisure to a fault, I may not be willing to make the sacrifices of going back to school or taking an extra training course to improve my career prospects. Likewise, I may want to lose weight and get into great shape, but if the reason for doing so isn’t adequately compelling, I will not get there.
Furthermore, once you get there, you need extra motivation to maintain that level of excellence. No matter what, preparation for the future is only helpful if we also have a plan to get there, a plan to stay there, and a reason for getting it done. Otherwise, it will go in the basket with all of the other New Year’s resolutions that we, and others, may have made but never executed. So, New Year’s resolutions or not, let this year be different and push hard until you achieve your breakthrough. Most importantly, make sure that breakthrough counts for the glory of God. If your goal does not offer eternal value, perhaps you should evaluate whether it is still worth making. Ask yourself, “Can I do X to the glory of God?” If not, maybe you would make better use of your time applying your efforts elsewhere (Colossians 3:23-24).
