Until applied, there will be no relief

Lewis Carroll reminded us: "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." While we don't always have a 'mapped out' version of life each day, it is always good to be attentive to the direction God would have us take. Obedience in the daily stuff is probably more important than obedience when God asks you to take 'big steps'. The 'ordinary' everyday stuff is hard enough, but when we apply ourselves to 'learning' and 'doing as we learn', we will likely be more ready for the 'big steps'!

Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights. (Proverbs 18:15)

Carroll used to quip that he had already believed as many as six impossible things before he even sat down to breakfast. I cannot agree, for a life with God helps us to imagine the impossible, prepare for it, and then set out to do it! What is your 'impossible' today? Is there more than one? Could it be that the steps you have been taking all along the way, committed to being faithful each and every day to what you know God asks of you, have prepared you for the 'impossible' of today? Obedience begins in the 'regular stuff' of daily life, but it prepares us for the 'big stuff' of an extraordinary life!

What is God asking for us to 'obediently pursue' today? Perhaps it is time for you to actually crack that Bible you have sitting at your bedside, knowing God has asked you to get into it a bit more. Maybe he has asked you to disengage from social media for a while, putting the time you have invested there into a relationship that is floundering. I imagine the things we 'put off' today are not always all that hard - they just require us to exercise a little discipline over what is 'easiest' in our lives. You might just be surprised by what 'insights' God gives in the 'ordinary' when we pursue it with an obedient heart.

Wise men and women are always learning. What lesson has God been speaking into your heart recently? It could have been sparked by a conversation your pastor began from the pulpit, or perhaps it was the result of something you read or heard in passing. The lesson may not be finished, but if we never apply ourselves to learning it, will it be learned? Not likely! What gets applied actually has a chance to begin its work. You don't get pain relief by looking at the jar of "Icy Hot" on the bedside table. Until you apply it, there is no relief. The work hasn't even begun! Apply it, feel its warming sensation, and you might just begin to find what was a 'pain' in your life becomes less and less until one day it is gone! Just sayin!