It's been a long day, and I am tired. But one thing I always do is take inventory at the end of each day. Did I do what I intended to do? Did I glorify God? Am I on track?
Every night, I make these grand, elaborate mental plans for the next day. I am truly well-intentioned. I want to get up at the crack of dawn and pray, I want to spend time reading my Bible. I want to get to the park to walk by the time they open the gates. And then, go help and heal the world! Sounds great, doesn't it?
But, as the dew of the morning dries up in the morning sun, so does my ambition. So, I lay in my bed, under a blanket of guilt and condemnation, feeling like failure-- and it's only 7am, meaning I have the rest of the day for these feelings to torment me.
But then, I feel presence of the Holy Spirit, gently exchange my blanket of shame for a blanket of love -- I can almost see Him smile and hear Him say, "Good morning! I love you, whether you stay in bed or not." And so, I start...again....
Perhaps you share my zeal. Perhaps each night your goal is to wake up and set the world on fire, but when morning comes, your plans have all the potential of a wet match. If that's true, accept for yourself what God told me. Place it in your heart, and do the best you can. He says, "You are not a failure. You will succeed. I know your dream and it shall come to pass in an even greater way than you can presently imagine. You need not be afraid or be in doubt for your best days are ahead of you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. There is new mercy and new strength waiting for you. Begin anew."
Well, I am going to begin anew...I am getting up at the crack of dawn, I am going to read my Bible, pray, get to the park by the time they open the gate and walk....and come home and help the world...but if for some reason things don't go as planned, praise God that I can begin anew.
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