I write a 'Thought for the Week,' for our local paper, from time to time - here is the one I wrote for January, for anyone who is already ripping up the New Year's Resolutions!
Blessed are the Plodders
Have you
ever started something with great gusto and enthusiasm, only to find, a few
weeks in, that it isn’t quite as fun, rewarding or interesting as you had
originally imagined? You’re not
alone! As midnight strikes and a New
Year dawns, people around the world resolve to get fit and lose weight – a
whopping 71% of us, in fact, according to a poll, last year.
Haven’t
we all made those resolutions at some point?
Why, then, when we start with such determination, do we, along with
millions like us, fail miserably by the time February rolls around? Haven’t we all done it – joined the gym and
attended every day for a fortnight, before our aching legs buckle beneath us
and we long to take refuge on the sofa? Or started a weight-loss group,
existing on low carbs and no sugar, with great hope…before it all feels too
hard and we sneak off to raid the left-over Christmas chocolate stash, before
the week is out?
Perhaps
the solution to this all-too-familiar ‘crash and burn’ scenario lies in taking
it gradually, a bit at a time, instead of treating it like a frantic sprint.
“Blessed
are the plodders,” says Christian writer Warren Wiersbe, “for they eventually
arrive at their destination.” Here is
the key: plodding. We don’t like the
sound of it, because it’s slow and unglamorous.
If we only plod, it’s going to take a long time to get where we want to
go. But – and here’s the beauty – we do get there. Instead of giving up and crashing out of the
race because we’ve worn ourselves out and it all feels too hard, steadily
plodding, making small, slow but determined moves, towards our lives’ goals,
will help us to reach them, eventually.
“Let us
run with endurance,’ the Bible says, “the race God has set before us.” (Hebrews
12v1 NLT). This reminds us that life is
not a sprint, but a marathon. When we
want to grow and change and move forward, it is a slow, gradual process. The rest of that verse reminds us exactly how
we keep on doing that – “by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who
initiates and perfects our faith.”
Whatever
you’re going through, whatever this new year holds, facing it slowly and
steadily and with your eyes fixed on the One who longs to help and walk beside
you, will ensure that, however long it takes, you’ll ultimately get to exactly
where He wants you to be.
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