Just Keep Plodding

Well, folks, it’s time to get real.  I’m struggling to know what to say here.

It’s been 4 weeks since I last created a post, and my goal has been to publish something every 2 weeks.  Two weeks ago, I was absolutely exhausted from moving out of an apartment into a house, which had consumed the bulk of my days and all of my energy.  So, I thought I’d be able to blog about how to deal with exhaustion, but I was just too tired to finish it!   😊

I’ve spent the last 2 weeks getting more rested and catching up on things, including writing.  Interestingly, I’ve done a lot of writing over the last few days, but just haven’t found that single topic that felt inspired or finished enough to post.

If I was a church pastor and was expected to be preaching every week, my congregation would have received nothing!  It’s impossible to deliver an inspired message when you haven’t been inspired.

And that’s true for other areas of life as well.  You can’t give what you don’t have, whether it’s energy, love, time, or money.

Fortunately, we don’t have to stay depleted.  There are ways to restock our resources.

Unfortunately, it can take some time to refill the well.  But it’s not simply the passage of time, it’s what we do with the time.  Just as the ticking of the clock itself does nothing to improve our situation, us sitting around just waiting isn’t helping either.

So, we keep plodding.  We keep chipping away at the piled-up work until it gets back under control.  We keep going to bed at a decent hour and squeezing in naps when we can until we get back to feeling rested.  We get back into the groove of writing by sitting down and typing what comes to mind until it starts feeling natural again.  And we get back into the habit of daily, personal God Time by putting forth a little more effort towards it every day until our spiritual well is overflowing again.

And this ebb and flow of energy and success is nothing to be alarmed about.  It’s a natural part of life.  Things happen that disrupt our normal balance, and sometimes we have to pause one thing in order to make room for something else that’s temporary.

Sometimes, it’s not an external temporary thing but just the rhythms of life.  As someone once said, “Only the mediocre are always at their best.”  We’re humans, not machines.

The key to success is in never letting that detour keep you from getting back on track.  Never let the slump keep you down.

Besides, these hard times in life, when nothing comes easy, have the potential for making us better people.  But only if we persevere, only if we don’t give up and instead keep plodding on in doing what we know is right.

Consider these scriptures about endurance or perseverance:

“Consider it pure joy, … whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”—James 1:2-4 NIV

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”—James 1:12 NIV

“…make every effort to add to your faith … perseverance; ….  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—2 Peter 1:5-8 NIV

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”—Galatians 6:9 NIV

There are some quality things that just cannot be gotten quickly or easily.  We must be willing to go through some rough spots, some dry times, and keep steadily plodding through them.  Catch a vision of what’s on the other side and keep it as your focal point (Hebrews 12:2 (1-4), Philippians 3:12-14).

Our difficult patches may alter our plans a bit so that we never go back to what was normal before.  We may have to adjust some goals and expectations, or habits, routines and schedules.

But, hey, those life changes are what keep life from being boring, right?  There’s no great story without some challenge in it.

Again, the key to success or overcoming these down times, is to keep pressing forward.

Hang in there, and hang with me.  I’m trusting I’ll feel inspired to write more soon.

 

Thanks for reading!

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. http://www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™