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Blessed are the Plodders - Thought for the Week


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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