Sticks & Stones 7 – Picking Up Sticks
We have been spending the last weeks talking about sticks and stones and how to handle the different things in our lives. There is a prayer that we all have heard that will help us start our journey today. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” It is a famous prayer that has been sold over and over again around the world.
I think this prayer gives us a pattern to figure out if we are carrying a stick or a stone. We need to think again about which one it is that we are carrying. It is important to know which one it is, because it will change the next steps and course of action we take in life. Let’s look at the difference this makes in our lives.
“Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Each person must be responsible for himself.” These verses from Galatians 6:4 – 5 tells us to take an inventory of our lives. We need to stop and take a look at our problem. Do we have a rock in our hands that we cannot change or is it a stick we can use to make our lives better.
Once again we need to always remember if we have a rock we cannot change it. The rock is what we have that weighs us down and keeps us from going forward. We talked about a rock and how we think about it. We must change the way we view our rocks. Since they cannot change we must change the way we look at them. Can they become a moment in our lives and not our whole lives? These rocks can be an anchor in our lives; we need to cut the chain they hold us with. Remember, we are responsible for our own lives. We need to change our thought pattern when it comes to the things we cannot change.
But more importantly we need to see that sticks can be changed. The problem is that we don’t often decide on what to do with the things we can change. We become comfortable with the things that are not good in our lives. They become a part of our story, when they really do not need to be at all. Think about how many times you have thought about getting in better shape. Like once a week right? We all know we should exercise and eat right, but we have this thing in us that gets us to stop and not keep going. We see these things in our lives we need to change, but we somehow just keep them for a variety of reasons.
That is why this verse from Proverbs 16:9 in The Living Bible should push each of us to make plans to change our sticks. “We should make plans – counting on God to direct us.” Notice the first words we should. We all know this. How many times have we said, “I should…” That is the deal. We know we should do. But will we and depend on God to keep us going in the right direction. So how does making a plan work?
In school I did not like math at all. But an equation that can help me change me can be life altering. So let’s look at this equation. X to Y by When. I know that is not necessarily a math equation, but it gets us started. So why don’t we break it down. X represents where I am right now. What do I see in my life that I want to change? Y represents where I want to be in the future. What do I want to see in my life? When gives us a date for this to be done. Many times we set goals with no end date. There is a quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that fits here. “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” We need to realize that if we do not put an end date, we can always find a reason to wait to start. So where are you and where do you want to be by when?
Make your plan and put some reminders around you to push you when you do not feel like going on. If it is important to you today, then plan on making it better tomorrow. These stick problems can be straightened out if we just have the spirit to do it. Most of all we need to remember that if we lay it out in steps we can get there. When we have a goal we need some mini goals in there also. That way we can measure and see how the sticks are lining up. Progress towards Y is best seen in small steps. So figure out your plan and then work it. We have all met plenty of people who have a plan and have never acted on it. Or they have a plan that is not working so they never change plans even though they know they should.
We need to make a commitment to ourselves. After all, sticks do not straighten themselves. We are responsible for our own lives. Especially when it is truly something we can control and change. So what are we waiting on? Pick up sticks and set them straight. Keep that children’s verse in your head all day every day.