The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
Michelangelo
1475-1564
Michelangelo said it best. While his message underlies the importance of HOPE I do believe that Chapter 20 talking about disappointment can be, and is for some people, the killer of hope. Without hope we don't even have the ability to dream and without dreams we can't utilize the enormous power of our minds and souls. Set your aim high, work hard, dream hard and let the power of God work his magic for you.
4 comments:
Amen! In order for us to have hope, though, we must learn to forgive ourselves for not being perfect. Joel says we need to "avoid the tendency to dwell on what you could have done, which college you could have attended, which career you should have pursued, or that person you wish you would have married." Maybe we did aim too low at one time, but we all have a chance to redeem ourselves by letting God take control. Isaiah 55:9 says that "God's ways are higher and better than our ways." Phillipians 3:13-14 says "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal." That's what you and I did, Frank, when we let go of our past and opened ourselves up to the new life we have together. I'm more blessed than ever now--eleven years later! Thank you, Frank, for becoming my husband. Thank You, God, for forgiving my past and giving me a brand new life.
Omar Khayyam wrote, "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety and Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it." Even though these words are almost a thousand years old, they still apply today. We cannot change our past no matter how much we regret it or how many tears we cry. Whatever happened in our past, be it parental shortcomings, missed opportunities, bad financial luck, or whatever, the moving finger of time has written our story, and we can't unwrite it. So like Joel says, "You must make a decision that you are going to move on....you will have to rise up and say, 'I don't care how hard this is, I don't care how disappointed I am, I'm not going to let this get the best of me. I'm moving on with my life.'"
Chapter 21 is called "Getting Up on the Inside". This starts a new part of the book. Previously we read several chapters about letting go of the past, and now we will read chapters about finding strength through adversity. After we've let go of the past, we need to find our strength as a victor and be determined to "stand strong and fight the good fight of faith" according to Joel and the bible.
I agree I need to aim high and I need to be truthful to myself. I have a passion for a lot of things and God gave me certain talents and abilities I need to make use of them and see God at work through me. Releasing my desire for money and thinking only of serving Him. Thanks, Elizabeth
Elizabeth, it's always good to hear from you. It's interesting that you mentioned being truthful to yourself b/c I've been working on that very same thing. I want to be authentic and passionate about my purpose in life. God is showing me so much. It's so hard to release our desire for money and trust God to provide for us abundantly. Let's pray for each other about that.
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