Mike got a daily devotional book from the chaplains at the jail for Christmas. Though I haven't been the greatest at looking at it every day, I grab it when I think about it. Today's struck me a little bit.
In summary, it talked about wanting to take the easy way out of a challenge. A woman is invited to a party and the only thing left on the food list to bring is salad. She inwardly complained because her salads never turn out very well and would rather have brought a casserole or rice dish. Then she sees a note she had written to herself prior to this situation urging to challenge herself: "When you do hard things, your brain grows." In the end she stepped up to the challenge of making a salad for the party despite previous failures.
Now, you may be thinking, "Really? Salad? How can you mess that up?" Obviously making a salad was not the point I'm trying to get across. How many times do we get tested by God and try to find some easier way of doing it? In some ways, maybe He lets us get away with it. Other times He really wants us to use our noggins and talents that He has given us. There are many times that I would love to just cop out and say, "Nope. I'm not feeling it." I stay at home with my son and groom dogs when clients call for appointments. Even though I'm pretty good at it and love it, I freak out almost every single time I set up an appointment because I almost don't want to do it. My brain goes into overdrive and thinks of all the bad scenarios that could happen, and it's enough to make me want to take the easy way out and stop grooming all together, just so I don't have to face that possibility of rejection from the client. That's when God reminds me of my love for it and I'm okay.
God wants us to take the more difficult path because He wants us to grow, to learn. He doesn't mind if we make mistakes. That's how our "brains grow." And if we make mistakes, He wants us to turn to Him for the answers.
There's a quote I heard years ago that's stuck with me and I repeat it to myself occasionally in times of trial: "God doesn't like the easy way."
In summary, it talked about wanting to take the easy way out of a challenge. A woman is invited to a party and the only thing left on the food list to bring is salad. She inwardly complained because her salads never turn out very well and would rather have brought a casserole or rice dish. Then she sees a note she had written to herself prior to this situation urging to challenge herself: "When you do hard things, your brain grows." In the end she stepped up to the challenge of making a salad for the party despite previous failures.
Now, you may be thinking, "Really? Salad? How can you mess that up?" Obviously making a salad was not the point I'm trying to get across. How many times do we get tested by God and try to find some easier way of doing it? In some ways, maybe He lets us get away with it. Other times He really wants us to use our noggins and talents that He has given us. There are many times that I would love to just cop out and say, "Nope. I'm not feeling it." I stay at home with my son and groom dogs when clients call for appointments. Even though I'm pretty good at it and love it, I freak out almost every single time I set up an appointment because I almost don't want to do it. My brain goes into overdrive and thinks of all the bad scenarios that could happen, and it's enough to make me want to take the easy way out and stop grooming all together, just so I don't have to face that possibility of rejection from the client. That's when God reminds me of my love for it and I'm okay.
God wants us to take the more difficult path because He wants us to grow, to learn. He doesn't mind if we make mistakes. That's how our "brains grow." And if we make mistakes, He wants us to turn to Him for the answers.
There's a quote I heard years ago that's stuck with me and I repeat it to myself occasionally in times of trial: "God doesn't like the easy way."
