The Downside of Short Term Thinking
Dear friends-
Last night I was awakened with the feeling of "panic." Even 12 hours later the thoughts have been going through my mind. I awoke to thinking my life time had run out. I surveyed the landscape of my life and saw unfinished projects, books and the like. I began to give thought to friends who were no longer with me here on earth. Those that were on the brink and to a group who does not seem to know. But, me, I thought I was under control. So, the thought process of last night was disturbing. I am a planner. (Not always planning well, but a planner.) I realize that I have so many things going on at any one time, that whenever I leave here, I will have a project or two uncompleted. So, I really began to give credence to what I have going on and where will it be in 5 years. I live my life along these standards...
�There are 3 kinds of people. Those who MAKE things happen. Those who WATCH what happens. Those who WONDER what happened.�
I never want to be in the third category, but I was feeling like I was last night. It got to me. How many decisions do I make that are short term decisions for the now, leaving me holding the bag later? I have told my children for a long time, that when you have children and you make a short term decision for the now, without looking to the results of the future, things may not go the way you planned. One of my examples is in parenting, that many parents will make a short term decision to not discipline a child(making the child AND the parent feel better), only to travel a few years down the road and face heartbreak because the child is out of control. There is no time like today.
The other day I had a sit down with a friend of mine who is preparing for a run for Congress. He has asked me to help. Like me, he is an activist, a pot stirrer. And like me, he is a strategist. A planner. (He also like me, appreciates the "fight" more than the win, so to speak.) And so, we sat over our coffees and developed beginning strategy.
And then I have many friends who make lots of decisions with out thought process to the future. (Now, some would say that is the issue of "not counting the cost," but what if we truly are lead by the Spirit and allow for the flowing of Him in our lives? Must we worry? Probably not. On the other hand, most of our prone to our flesh from time to time, and decisions become colored.)
For instance, long term relationships, take, well, a long time...A friend of mine and I have been meeting in the same place for coffee for over 10 years each week. Others have come and joined us, but, it has ended up being him and I for the most part. Many people look for what they can get out of a relationship (A sure fire "cure" to alleviate long term relationships.) rather than what they can give.
The decisions we make today affect tomorrow. Time is my friend and time is my enemy. Time heals most hurts and time is always working against me. The argument of today can be lost in the pleasure of tomorrow. Yet, I am one day down in the "pleasure" zone.
I have 4 major projects sitting on my plate and decisions to make about ministry. Decisions to make about family. I can say this year I made a lot more good decisions than I did bad decisions. Our decisions to get rid of credit cards and pay off debt were good decisions. The issues of the house were clearly out of my hands. I did not make any "majors" and I say that only with the knowledge that only "time will tell" how good the decisions made were in some categories.
A lot of my life has been on hold with the arrival of two children and three grandchildren nearly 2 years ago. I had to weigh what I call the legacy thought process. When God gives us something bigger than us, it must be God when it is seen that A) We probably can not carry it out in our self or by our self and B)It must travel past our life span. Legacy being what is left and continues on. There are many other things I could be doing, but am not. Each day I pray for the children and the grand children. Each day I lay hands on them. Each day I speak their future.
No one knows the last day of their life for the most part.
With my "altar" project I have been in the old testament a lot. Some of the scripture I'm feeding on right now I share below. Verse 12(BOLD is my emphasis) spoke to my heart. The other night friends were here and I said there is something "cool" about sitting on the edge of something and knowing it is either God or you, and "you" stopped being able to produce miracles a long time ago! I realized I "missed" the excitement of being on the brink and needing God to show up.
There is a part of me that likes comfort, but waking up in the middle of the night "dependent" on the Lord is not so bad either some times. (Except for the house issue...it has caused a lot of stress, cost us all our money, required nearly $20,000 in repairs and we still are not complete. So, yes, I really need God to show up.)
When we make decisions out our soul(Our emotions, our will, our intellect.), we will not always be right. In fact, we may be more wrong with our actions in this process. Short term pleasures often cause long term difficulties. And especially when you throw people into it!
Many years ago we had an internet company. We made lots of right decisions and few bad ones. The results were that the good decisions outweighed the few bad ones. (BTW-most of my bad decisions happen when I want to "help" people. I am a relational person. I am not "cold hearted" enough to see some times. I think I have helped people when God said don't!) A few years later I started a coffee company that took off like wildfire. The growth was not calculated. Over 5,000 orders in 3 plus days. (I had to set my computer to turn on at 3 AM to begin to process the orders of the day!) Quite honestly, it was stupid. It caused a lot of stress.
And so now I sit here with projects in the fire. One of those projects is the altar project. A friend said "what happens if you get an order for 5,000 pieces?" So, I did the math...Back to the drawing board. 10 years ago I would not have thought twice. We await the seed money for this. Another project is in the area of health and environmental. Seed money is on the horizon. Meanwhile, we live our lives frugally. I get up every day and ask the Lord to carry the check book.
Admittedly, I did a lot of things backwards. I was a child of the "instant gratification" world. I am coming out of the desert. I truly feel the Lord saying things about crossing "Jordan."
For each one of you my prayer is that you God's will for you is clarified ore and more with each day. Those dealing with sickness and family members unsaved, I think we have truly moved in the threshing floor of the Lord. It is in that place that we ave stirred the heart of the Lord.
Blessings,
Lee
Don't Forget the LORD
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,
13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,
14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Last night I was awakened with the feeling of "panic." Even 12 hours later the thoughts have been going through my mind. I awoke to thinking my life time had run out. I surveyed the landscape of my life and saw unfinished projects, books and the like. I began to give thought to friends who were no longer with me here on earth. Those that were on the brink and to a group who does not seem to know. But, me, I thought I was under control. So, the thought process of last night was disturbing. I am a planner. (Not always planning well, but a planner.) I realize that I have so many things going on at any one time, that whenever I leave here, I will have a project or two uncompleted. So, I really began to give credence to what I have going on and where will it be in 5 years. I live my life along these standards...
�There are 3 kinds of people. Those who MAKE things happen. Those who WATCH what happens. Those who WONDER what happened.�
I never want to be in the third category, but I was feeling like I was last night. It got to me. How many decisions do I make that are short term decisions for the now, leaving me holding the bag later? I have told my children for a long time, that when you have children and you make a short term decision for the now, without looking to the results of the future, things may not go the way you planned. One of my examples is in parenting, that many parents will make a short term decision to not discipline a child(making the child AND the parent feel better), only to travel a few years down the road and face heartbreak because the child is out of control. There is no time like today.
The other day I had a sit down with a friend of mine who is preparing for a run for Congress. He has asked me to help. Like me, he is an activist, a pot stirrer. And like me, he is a strategist. A planner. (He also like me, appreciates the "fight" more than the win, so to speak.) And so, we sat over our coffees and developed beginning strategy.
And then I have many friends who make lots of decisions with out thought process to the future. (Now, some would say that is the issue of "not counting the cost," but what if we truly are lead by the Spirit and allow for the flowing of Him in our lives? Must we worry? Probably not. On the other hand, most of our prone to our flesh from time to time, and decisions become colored.)
For instance, long term relationships, take, well, a long time...A friend of mine and I have been meeting in the same place for coffee for over 10 years each week. Others have come and joined us, but, it has ended up being him and I for the most part. Many people look for what they can get out of a relationship (A sure fire "cure" to alleviate long term relationships.) rather than what they can give.
The decisions we make today affect tomorrow. Time is my friend and time is my enemy. Time heals most hurts and time is always working against me. The argument of today can be lost in the pleasure of tomorrow. Yet, I am one day down in the "pleasure" zone.
I have 4 major projects sitting on my plate and decisions to make about ministry. Decisions to make about family. I can say this year I made a lot more good decisions than I did bad decisions. Our decisions to get rid of credit cards and pay off debt were good decisions. The issues of the house were clearly out of my hands. I did not make any "majors" and I say that only with the knowledge that only "time will tell" how good the decisions made were in some categories.
A lot of my life has been on hold with the arrival of two children and three grandchildren nearly 2 years ago. I had to weigh what I call the legacy thought process. When God gives us something bigger than us, it must be God when it is seen that A) We probably can not carry it out in our self or by our self and B)It must travel past our life span. Legacy being what is left and continues on. There are many other things I could be doing, but am not. Each day I pray for the children and the grand children. Each day I lay hands on them. Each day I speak their future.
No one knows the last day of their life for the most part.
With my "altar" project I have been in the old testament a lot. Some of the scripture I'm feeding on right now I share below. Verse 12(BOLD is my emphasis) spoke to my heart. The other night friends were here and I said there is something "cool" about sitting on the edge of something and knowing it is either God or you, and "you" stopped being able to produce miracles a long time ago! I realized I "missed" the excitement of being on the brink and needing God to show up.
There is a part of me that likes comfort, but waking up in the middle of the night "dependent" on the Lord is not so bad either some times. (Except for the house issue...it has caused a lot of stress, cost us all our money, required nearly $20,000 in repairs and we still are not complete. So, yes, I really need God to show up.)
When we make decisions out our soul(Our emotions, our will, our intellect.), we will not always be right. In fact, we may be more wrong with our actions in this process. Short term pleasures often cause long term difficulties. And especially when you throw people into it!
Many years ago we had an internet company. We made lots of right decisions and few bad ones. The results were that the good decisions outweighed the few bad ones. (BTW-most of my bad decisions happen when I want to "help" people. I am a relational person. I am not "cold hearted" enough to see some times. I think I have helped people when God said don't!) A few years later I started a coffee company that took off like wildfire. The growth was not calculated. Over 5,000 orders in 3 plus days. (I had to set my computer to turn on at 3 AM to begin to process the orders of the day!) Quite honestly, it was stupid. It caused a lot of stress.
And so now I sit here with projects in the fire. One of those projects is the altar project. A friend said "what happens if you get an order for 5,000 pieces?" So, I did the math...Back to the drawing board. 10 years ago I would not have thought twice. We await the seed money for this. Another project is in the area of health and environmental. Seed money is on the horizon. Meanwhile, we live our lives frugally. I get up every day and ask the Lord to carry the check book.
Admittedly, I did a lot of things backwards. I was a child of the "instant gratification" world. I am coming out of the desert. I truly feel the Lord saying things about crossing "Jordan."
For each one of you my prayer is that you God's will for you is clarified ore and more with each day. Those dealing with sickness and family members unsaved, I think we have truly moved in the threshing floor of the Lord. It is in that place that we ave stirred the heart of the Lord.
Blessings,
Lee
Don't Forget the LORD
Moses said to Israel:
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,
13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,
14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
posted by Servant Communications at 4:17 AM
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