Skip to main content

The ‘If only’ trap, Ecclesiastes 11:4

‘Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.’ Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT Author Betty Mahalik says in this day and age we’re surrounded by messages that scream, ‘My life would be perfect if only I’d a different job…house…car…nose…spouse…bank account (you fill in the blank). Or if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears well ordered and perfect. Well this week I stopped playing “my life would be perfect if,” and started playing “my perfect life”. What’s the difference? Three things: 1) Being in the present; 2) An attitude of gratitude; 3) Taking action with what’s available now…When we’re caught up in the “my life would be perfect if” trap, we lose touch with the present and can no longer practise gratitude. Think about it: it’s difficult to be grateful for what you don’t have…and what you don’t have is always somewhere in “future-ville”. Look around you…do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? A few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them…You’re probably sitting there thinking “Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier, or whatever”…stop focusing on what you lack and start focusing on what you’ve already got.’ The Bible says, ‘Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.’ If you demand perfection-or-nothing, you’ll keep ending up with nothing. The fact that ‘God…made us what we are’ (Ephesians 2:10 TLB), means while our best is always commendable, none of us will attain perfection this side of heaven. And that’s okay, because Christ has clothed us in His righteousness and made us ‘complete in him’ (Colossians 2:10 KJV).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reaction to Globalization

Globalization and the attendant concerns about poverty and inequality have become a focus of discussion in a way that few other topics, except for international terrorism or global warming, have. Most people have a strong opinion on globalization, and all of them express an interest in the well-being of the world's poor. The financial press and influential international officials confidently assert that global free markets expand the horizons for the poor, whereas activist-protesters hold the opposite belief with equal intensity. Yet the strength of people's conviction is often in inverse proportion to the amount of robust factual evidence they have.As is common in contentious public debates, different people mean different things by the same word. Some interpret "globalization" to mean the global reach of communications technology and capital movements, some think of the outsourcing by domestic companies in rich countries, and others see globalization as a byword for
50 comments
Read more

LEARNING DISABILITIES

The term learning disability refers to many different types of learning issues that can vary widely in levels of severity. Students with a learning disability have at least average intelligence. They have areas of high functioning and areas of difficulties. Their learning disabilities are not caused by problem, such as vision or hearing impairments, or by primary emotional disturbance, and their challenges are not the result of poor schooling. Students with learning disabilities take in information, such as sights or sounds, but may have difficulty understanding or attaching meaning to it. They find it hard to organize information so that it is readily accessible. Retrieving the information from either short or long term memory is difficult. In addition, expressing the information, either verbally through speech or writing, or nonverbally may be a problem. Students with learning disabilities often exhibit wide discrepancies between different skills areas, in other words, they may be g
32 comments
Read more

A TEACHER’S TRIBUTE TO STUDENTS

Teaching is a passion, and my experience as a teacher has been beautiful, emotional and fulfilling. Over the years, I’ve watched the student – teacher equation evolve: From Guru, as all-knowing to Guru as friend and equal, as someone who doesn’t always know the best. Today’s teacher and the learner are partners in the process of teaching and learning. We inspire, motivate and learn from each other; if I don’t know, I can admit it to my students. The teacher is only a facilitator; one who will help the student grow, become a self-learner. The teacher is only one of many sources. Not infrequently, there is a role reversal. With children being so tech-savy, often I am the student and they are my teachers. Has teaching changes the way I think ? Yes, most certainly. My students have shown me how to manage time. I marvel at how deftly they juggle sports, academics, dance, and theatre, for instance. I have learnt how to accept failure as I see my students taking success and failure with equan
16 comments
Read more