
A large portion of the ministry the Lord has entrusted to me involves helping people to grow in grace. Growing in grace often means a new start, picking up the pieces from some storm in your life. Sometimes events in our life, often of our own making, cause our life scape to appear as a hobo walking through a gigantic landfill, with plenty of buzzards hanging around waiting for our carrion.
When life gets tough we often try to find a place, a footing, to start over, to have a new beginning. In reality, the race will not start over. But you really can start working on a better ending. Here’s the key from a man who knows about this from experience.
“Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Nido Qubein, businessman and motivational speaker
You have to start where you are with what you have. What you do not have is not on the table. The wise use of what’s at hand will make a difference. If you wait for “things to get better,” you will never get started.
The other day a man, whom I have known and respected for the better part of my life, asked me, “Larry, at the current rate of the growth of your ministry, how many more years will it take to reach the goals you set at its beginning?” This is a fair question, but rather humbling. I thought about it for a while and answered; “At the current rate of growth, 75 more years.” Now this answer could mean failure. I am already 73 (most people think I am only 72), so in order to reach my stated goals, I must live to the age of 148 years. But, I know that if I keep swinging the hammer, the rock will break in pieces, one little book may take off, or who knows just what. Furthermore, I can rest assured that my labor in the Lord’s work is not in vain. I have grown more through these long years of struggle, much more than in the first half where everything just seemed to fall in place. The world calls it the “Mida’s touch.”
My goal from 26 years ago this fall when my world fell apart, is like a very high mountain. I am barely up from the base, but I am farther along than had I just sat around the base, sucking my thumb wishing I could get a break. Lives have been and are being touched and I know much more about Jesus and about myself than if I had thrown in the towel and given up while patiently waiting for Jesus.
Our circumstances, whether we deem them good or bad, are a blessing in that they give us absolutely correct information as to where to start.
Philp 3:13 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Copyright © 2015 Larry Lilly
For really great IT Work check Oral Deckard
When life gets tough we often try to find a place, a footing, to start over, to have a new beginning. In reality, the race will not start over. But you really can start working on a better ending. Here’s the key from a man who knows about this from experience.
“Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Nido Qubein, businessman and motivational speaker
You have to start where you are with what you have. What you do not have is not on the table. The wise use of what’s at hand will make a difference. If you wait for “things to get better,” you will never get started.
The other day a man, whom I have known and respected for the better part of my life, asked me, “Larry, at the current rate of the growth of your ministry, how many more years will it take to reach the goals you set at its beginning?” This is a fair question, but rather humbling. I thought about it for a while and answered; “At the current rate of growth, 75 more years.” Now this answer could mean failure. I am already 73 (most people think I am only 72), so in order to reach my stated goals, I must live to the age of 148 years. But, I know that if I keep swinging the hammer, the rock will break in pieces, one little book may take off, or who knows just what. Furthermore, I can rest assured that my labor in the Lord’s work is not in vain. I have grown more through these long years of struggle, much more than in the first half where everything just seemed to fall in place. The world calls it the “Mida’s touch.”
My goal from 26 years ago this fall when my world fell apart, is like a very high mountain. I am barely up from the base, but I am farther along than had I just sat around the base, sucking my thumb wishing I could get a break. Lives have been and are being touched and I know much more about Jesus and about myself than if I had thrown in the towel and given up while patiently waiting for Jesus.
Our circumstances, whether we deem them good or bad, are a blessing in that they give us absolutely correct information as to where to start.
Philp 3:13 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Copyright © 2015 Larry Lilly
For really great IT Work check Oral Deckard