Have you ever felt like you’re in over your head? Ever feel like a task is so large that you cannot even begin? If so, remember these simple thoughts:
The longest journey begins with a single step.
The greatest accomplishments all begin with a dream and the courage to try to make it reality. Most people never begin because they fear failure. But it is better to try and do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. As Joshua stood at the threshold of the Promised Land, realizing the great and hazardous task that lay before him, God told him: “Just as I have been with Moses, I will also be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you. Only be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:5-6).
Beginning is halfway there.
Just getting started is half the battle. Once you get started you will gain momentum. Pastor and author, Robert Shuller states that “the one battle most people lose is the battle over the fear of failure …Try, start, begin…and you’ll be assured you won the first round!” Many others, with less talent and ability than you, have come this way before and have made it. So can you. Get started!
Inch by inch, anything’s a cinch!
God had told Joshua he did not have to conquer the Promised Land all in one year, but “little by little” (Exodus 23:29-30). So God also commands us to take just one day at a time, to only bear today’s burdens and to place tomorrow’s concerns in His almighty hands (Matthew 6:34; Psalm 55:22).
God promises to give you only what you can bear!
In 1 Corinthians 10:13, God tells us that He only allows trials to enter our lives that everybody else must face and that He will never push us beyond our limitations. Put your trust in God; He will not let you down.
There is an end to every task, every trial, every test, and every ordeal. It will all soon be history!
Robert Shuller states that, “Every problem has a limited life-span” and “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do!” More important, though our trials are not forever, God’s power is. Isaiah 40:28-29 tells us that the Everlasting God never grows weary, but gives strength to the weary and weak. Saint Paul tells us that “our light affliction is but for a moment” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Hang in there and this task or trial will soon be behind you.
As you accomplish what you once thought “impossible,” you will move from weakness to strength and be transformed.
Phillips Brooks once said, “Do not pray for easier lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not ask for tasks equal to your powers, but for powers equal to your task. Then not only shall the doing of your work be a miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself at the richness of life which has come in you by the grace of God.”
Prayer:
Dear God, may I not shrink back in fear, but march on in Your strength, and experience Your transforming power. Amen.
