IDareToHope

Perseverance versus consistency. Consistency is maintaining the same status, achieving the same goal, the same thing, every day. Perseverance is not giving up, pursuing something big. It requires determination, motivation, and focus.

I want to keep up the former, not so much the latter.

So I’m here today after a couple day hiatus. Other good things took priority for a couple days, but I’m back!

I fourwheeled down to the beach around 7:20 this evening. Just in time to watch the evening jet, or, “night flight” fly over. It’s been stormy the last couple days again, but no rain tonight, so I was thankful!

Tonight it was encouraging to notice that though this project started out mostly as a method to find little pieces of glass and get me outside, it truly has become a time to commune with God. I whisper prayers as I walk along the sand, knowing my Father is near and listening. I’m learning how to breathe again.

Recently a crisis came up and my good friend pointed out a not-unfamiliar fact… that I am a worrier. But that in itself doesn’t sound like a terrible thing. However, the root of worry is really distrust. And as a believer in Jesus Christ, that distrust is directed toward God. Distrust that His plan will work out. Distrust that he has my good in mind. Distrust that he’s really in control of everything. Yikes, right?

Another friend also encouraged me long ago to look at the root of my actions. I wish I were this introspective all day long, but you’re just catching me in my jammies on the couch, typing on my phone and actually thinking. It feels like a rare moment. Most of the time I do not contemplate the motivation behind my planned actions before I act. But how many scrapes could I avoid if I did? Probably a lot.

I have seen this cliche-feeling little sign to hang up in my home, lightly declaring “Pray More, Worry Less.”

How much different would our lives be if, everytime a worry came to mind, we prayed about it? How much would our trust in God be strengthened if we walked through those worries with Him, instead of apart from Him?

I’m reminded of the fourth chapter in Phillipians that talks about worry, and what to spend your thoughts on, instead:

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down.

It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.