Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised…
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” Hebrews 10: 35-36, 39 (ESV)
There is no doubt in my mind that this morning is ushering in a brand new day. It always happens that way.
And as this morning breaks all around us once again, it does so, as it also always does, with the absolute promise of unlimited potential before us. And yet it also comes with the painful reminders of yesterday’s shortcomings and failings, and recent promises of potential lying yet unfulfilled behind us.
Potential that is left unfulfilled too often, not because we simply have come up short or failed, but because we shrank from trying to reach for all we can be. We’ve all seen it, and maybe too close at hand at times—maybe even ourselves. It’s the saddest of moments—life lived less than it could have been and should have been.
Each of us has a story to write with the journey of our lives. Most often we do not use a pencil or paper to write it, but instead we write it with each thought, word and deed in each day of our lives. A story in which we will live out, and leave, a legacy that will have our name on it. I wonder how that story will read? I wonder the impact for good our legacy will leave?
A story that is born out of the dreams arising from a belief that God has created each of us specifically for this time in history with incredible gifts and abilities, passions and platforms of influence, for a purpose and purposes unique to us. A story that at times has our better angels, who seek to positively advance God’s purpose in our lives, and our demons, who seek to knock us off course, battling for our hearts, our decisions and priorities.
It’s a story which acknowledges and learns from the past, with all its ups and downs, mountaintops and valleys, wins and losses, trophies and failings—but leaves all of that right where it belongs, in the past. A story which recognizes that what was before is meaningless and relatively unimportant other than as a benchmark to learn and improve upon, compared to how we write the rest of our story—beginning today.
Yet in the midst of the telling of those stories, there come rolling along in front of us walls and rivers, mountains and valleys, often stronger and faster, higher and longer than anything we have ever seen or experienced before. And our response to those along the journey will be written into the pages of our story.
What will our response be?
Will someone watching us, or reading the pages of our story later, see that we persevered and pushed through, beyond and around what we confronted with every ounce of our being—or will they see that we shrank from what was before us—with fear, or a lack of resolve and commitment to the mission and purpose of our lives, or even more sadly, because of a lack of belief in ourselves or those who are on the journey with us. Or maybe even a lack of belief in the God who created you to write the story He intended you to write.
As we persevere through today, how will we view tomorrow out of the corner of our eyes? Will we view it with excitement and anticipation, looking forward to the opportunities to do great things and become all we were created to be? Or will we view it as just one more day we have to slug through. And what will we do with tomorrow when it becomes today?
In our better moments we know what God has given us a gift of this life—to use for His glory, our good and to positively impact the world around us. What is hard to remember in the busyness of each day is that we only have one time around to live it. Each day is ours to write the story of our lives and live the legacy we will leave.
How will that story read?
What will that legacy be?
It’s all yours and all up to you—to write and leave.
Don’t shrink from it. Don’t waste it.
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2013. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
