Daily Stop & Thinks

Security

[Security] does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. (Helen Keller)

Keller concludes, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” This statement is all the more amazing when we understand the physical handicaps that she endured. We might wonder how she could just survive with the potential dangers of her blindness and deafness, but she did far more, achieving fame as a writer and speaker. Security is not our goal so much as opportunity. 

Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm. (Proverbs 19:23)

Time

If you want a better tomorrow, you’ve got to evaluate your past to make better decisions in the present. (Chris Suitt, pastor and blogger)

Past, present, future—it can be confusing trying to discern the priority of each in our planning. Suitt puts it together well. We must not be glued to our past memories, but we dare not forget what we learned yesterday. And it’s not good to make great plans for the future unless we work well today to prepare for it. Remember, all of our time and experience is important.

For everything, there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Common Sense

Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom. (Samuel Coleridge, 18^th-19^th century English poet)

In a topsy-turvy world like ours today, we might often wonder what happened to common sense. So many decisions seem to be made on what look like faulty premises (at least in some eyes). Yet, as Coleridge points out, when there is a great deal of well-thought-out practical sense, we can rightly call it wisdom. We should encourage everyone to think carefully and sensibly.

Don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them…[God] grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. (Proverbs 3:21; 2:7)

Finishing Well

Beginning well is a momentary thing; finishing well is a lifelong thing.

Many of us have begun well but finished poorly in our attempt to diet or exercise. Usually, we begin with a lot of excitement and anticipation. But, when the effort becomes tedious and the obstacles mount, it’s so easy to find a better option and just bailout. Finishing well demands good intentions and perseverance; it may take a long time.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. (2 Timothy 4:7)

Waiting

Those who are best at waiting are best at serving. (James Gribble, pioneer 20^th century missionary) 

Gribble and his team waited many months before they were given permission to move into darkest Africa to minister. They personified what Pastor Charles Stanley meant when he said, “Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on what we’re waiting for.” When we value our future work, it becomes easier to wait with patience as we continue to prepare for that future.

But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. (Romans 8:25)

Pride

We may often be of more consequence in our own eyes than in our neighbors’. (from Aesop’s Fables)

Winners who sometimes find themselves in the spotlight with a lot of accolades in the press might begin to believe what they read and hear about themselves. We’ve seen too often how those winners begin to believe their own press. It can happen to any of us when we achieve a bit of success. Our neighbors might just be the best judges of us.

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor. (Proverbs 29:23)

Results

Let us watch well our beginnings and results will manage themselves. (19^th century U.S. Ambassador)

We often focus on the goal, what we want the end of our project to look like. We do always have to keep the end in mind, of course. We have to determine how to get there, what’s involved in the process; what resources we will need along the way. The success or failure in our venture will be based on all those things, but the really essential issue is, how do we begin?

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. (Philippians 1:6)

Peace

First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others. (Thomas à Kempis, 15^th century German-Dutch churchman)

Nearly everyone wants to see peace in his home, the community, the nation, and even the world. But, as has been said, peace really has to begin within each one of us. In today’s fast-moving, world, many are finding it difficult to be at peace within themselves, not to mention in their relationships with others. Peace on a horizontal level must begin with a vertical relationship.

When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them. (Proverbs 16:7)

Believing II

We have a right to believe whatever we want, but not everything we believe is right. 

Independence and accepting everyone’s “rights,” seems to be out of control today. Everyone is allowed to believe and express whatever he wants. “What is true for you,” some say, “is not necessarily true for me.” But, as was noted above, just because you believe something doesn’t make it true or right. We need to find bedrock truth and hold on to it.

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). 

[Jesus to God the Father], “Make them holy by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Believing I

We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true. (Dallas Willard, professor)

In our conversations we often express our views, saying, “I think…” or “I believe…” Sometimes we are merely sharing opinions, perhaps hoping to persuade someone to accept our view of things. Perhaps Willard is recalling an old saying “to put your money where your mouth is.” It’s evident, isn’t it, that we don’t really believe something unless we’re willing to act on it.

Only simpletons believe everything they’re told! (Proverbs 14:15)

What good is it. . . if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? (James 2:14)

Discovery                                           

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. (Marcel Proust, 19^th-20^th century French novelist)

Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci were renowned explorers and are noted for their great discoveries of formerly unknown landscapes. Not many of us will ever be thought of as explorers, but we could make great discoveries. Not by world travels or extra-terrestrial journeys. By searching the ordinary with a new focus; who knows what we might discover?

Ears to hear and eyes to see—both are gifts from the Lord. (Proverbs 20:12)

Meeting Needs

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive because the world needs people who have come alive. (Howard Thurman, 20^th century educator)

Some think what the world needs is relief from poverty; others, a better education; many think love is the missing factor in a depressed world. Thurman seems to argue that the question has no simple answer. Rather, it is best resolved by people who are passionate about what they want to offer and will do their best to provide to meet the needs right around them.

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. (Titus 3:14)