Daily Stop & Thinks

In the Storm

We are all in this together… we are all in the same boat. (Amanda Miles, young author)

How often have you heard something like that about our recent sequestration? But Amanda sees it differently: “Although we may all be in the same water, we are not all in the same boat.” Pastor Rick Warren put it this way, “Some are in yachts, some in rowboats and some are barely hanging on to a piece of driftwood” Choose your boat carefully to weather the storm safely.

When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation (Proverbs 10:25).

Reason

We must start by teaching our kids not what to think but how to think. (John Stonestreet, Worldview author & speaker)

Stonestreet continues, “In the information age, accumulated facts and information are confused with expertise or, even worse, wisdom.” Many people seem to think that the more you know, the smarter you are. Maybe that’s true regarding knowledge, but the accumulation of data and information alone doesn’t provide common sense or wisdom. Reasoned thinking is essential.

I searched everywhere, determined to find wisdom and to understand the reason for things (Ecclesiastes 7:25).

Zeal

Sometimes success is due less to ability than to zeal. (Charles Buxton, 19^th century English writer)

Sometimes we are surprised when a great achievement is discovered, and we learn that the person responsible did not have the apparent skills for his accomplishment. Rather, he made up for that lack with a great deal of enthusiasm for his work. It’s encouraging to note that we don’t have to be a rocket scientist to perform well and do worthy work. Zeal and enthusiasm help.

Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (Ephesians 6:7).

Do Your Best

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. (G. K. Chesterton, 19^th-20^th century English writer).

Students are often challenged to do their best, to always strive for excellence, so, Chesterton’s statement seems so contradictory. Of course, we should always want to do our best, but even if we work hard and don’t achieve perfection, the effort is often well worth it. Something done less than perfectly may still be of value and help, so keep working hard to do your best.

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce (Proverbs 3:9).

Keep Trying

For us there is only the trying. The rest is none of our business. (T. S. Eliot, 20^th century essayist)

How do you respond when you try to do something, and it doesn’t work? Do you give up, thinking it’s no use to keep trying? Singer-songwriter Jared Leto says, “Try and fail, but never fail to try.” Or, as Winston Churchill famously said, “Never give up!” While we can’t always control the results, we must keep on working at it. The value for us may just be in the trying.

Work hard and become a leader. . . Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity (Proverbs 21:5; 12:24).

Know Yourself

The person I look up to most is the person who isn’t defined by what others think. (Author unknown)

In a self-centered world like ours, many people find their identity and worth in what other people think about them. They make their choices and plan their activities based on how they think others might judge them. What a difficult lifestyle that must be. When we learn to stand on our own, confident in who we are and how God has made us, the better life will be for us.

It matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. . . It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide (1 Corinthians 4:3-4).

The Future

To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: “Leave no stone unturned.” (Edward Bulwer Lytton, 19^th century English politician)

When it’s difficult to think and plan ahead, it’s so easy just to give up and let things happen as life goes on without our intentional involvement. But Lytton’s counsel is well taken. The more carefully and fully we investigate the possible obstacles and hurdles, the better able we will be to strategize and help determine our future.

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps (Proverbs 16:9).

Value

When everything is free, nothing has value. (Ben Stein, economic commentator)

One certain way to get attention, perhaps to introduce a new product, is to emphasize “FREE” in your advertising. Many of us use certain software, not because it may be the best on the market, but because it’s FREE. The strings that are often attached to such offers can become very expensive. As economist Milton Friedman wrote, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. . . Those unwilling to work will not get to eat. . . settle down and work to earn their own living (2 Thessalonians 3:8, 10, 12).

Memory

Nothing is new, it is just forgotten (Marie Antoinette, 18^th century and last queen of France)

The older we become, the more we battle with memory loss. But for many people, it may be that they just don’t want to remember some things from the past. At other times we claim we never knew one thing or another when we’ve just forgotten—intentionally or not. Sometimes we might think we’ve discovered something new, but that’s rarely true.

There is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

The Good Life

The good life is not found in luxury; rather it is found in a life that enriches the life of another human. (Jeff Shinabager, financial author)

In the bustle of modern life, so many people seem to be busy, running here and there either to gain popularity or advance in business. Socrates advised, “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” The work to achieve “The Good Life” may prove futile if we do not understand what the goal should be. Shinabager’s counsel truly sets the proper goal and purpose for your life.

Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies (1 Peter 4:11).

Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others (1 Corinthians 10:25).

Training

At the moment of truth, you will not rise to the level of expectation, but will fall to the level of training. (Classroom banner)

We are often disappointed when something or someone fails to achieve the heights we had anticipated. Expectations are often much higher than they ought to be because we think too much of an individual or an idea that hasn’t been fully tested. The classroom banner is a great reminder of  the necessity of training and an incentive to seek it before performing.

Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher (Luke 6:40).

Influence

Leaders change the world around them. (Todd Henry, motivational speaker)

Probably everybody thinks at one time or another that they’d like to change the world. They have a clever idea or a new slant on things that would dramatically change life for the good of everyone else. Very likely Henry’s view is that you have to begin with “the world” nearest you. First, consider how you can positively influence those right around you.

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others (2 Corinthians 5:11).