On your mark. Get set.
And we were off . . .
flying with the wind for mere seconds, racing toward the finish line.
For a couple of years, I was a sprinter. 40-, 60-, 100-yard dashes. The shorter the better.
But Life’s not a sprint, is it?
Five Minute Friday: Where a one-word prompt leads to five minutes of unedited free writing. Here goes…
Most new “starts” in Life come with a sense of excitement, adventure, discovery.
But what happens when, somewhere along the way, the path grows long? When the adventure is no more? When every day requires a many-times decision to stay engaged?
What happens then?
What do you do when something you committed to isn’t enjoyable anymore? When it’s mentally and physically exhausting? When you just want to quit?
What then?
The “start” is the easy part. It’s the “keep on keeping on” that’s difficult. Painful. Sometimes it’s just plain hard, almost unbearable.
How do you know when to stay committed and when to say “enough is enough”? When do someone else’s choices get to affect when and how you must respond to a situation? Who gets to plan your future?
In Life, we make our best choices when we seek God’s direction. In death, He gets to choose—and until that final invitation to live eternally in His presence, our task is to focus on living and finishing well.
STOP
If, like me, you find yourself today in the middle of some exhausting Life circumstances, hang in there! Walk away if you can, even if for a short while. Set boundaries. Breathe.
Practice trusting that God’s faithfulness in the past will be true in the future—and the present.
Some days it’s all we have to grasp.
The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:5b-7
I agree, starting is much easier than keeping going! I think remembering our reason for starting can help, and it’s also encouraging to remember that God is with us to help us when it get tough!
So true! It can get very difficult to keep on keeping on when the thrill has worn off. Great reminders today.
(Stopping by from FMF #29)