Life Coaching: What Are You Gonna Do About It?
/I usually write Tuesday’s blog on Monday while Sunday’s sermon is fresh on my mind. If I don’t, I am apt to forget some valuable lessons that seemed life altering when sitting in the pew, but leaving my head the minute I get behind the wheel of my car. I have started taking better notes so I can remember, but I’m not a young woman anymore, and sometimes, things just happen…Yesterdays sermon went a direction in my mind that I’m quite certain my pastor did not intend. He was teaching about the man who was born blind from the ninth chapter of John, and my mind kept going back to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But my meandering mind DID find a link, so I guess my pastor would have been proud after all.
In the book of Daniel, we find the story of those three men who were in Babylonian captivity. They were instructed to worship pagan gods by the king. It was the law. In fact, they were instructed to physically bow their knees. Needless to say, they didn’t, or their names probably wouldn’t have made it into the Bible. This really angered King Nebuchadnezzar, the dude who made the proclamation. He commanded they be tossed into a furnace and burned. The furnace was heated up so much that the guys that threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the flames were killed just from the heat. One hot oven right there now…But these three men said something interesting that reminded me of that man who was born blind as mentioned above. They said (and I’ll quote), “Our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your Hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Bold words to say to a king.
Here’s the thing and here’s why this story is like the blind beggar—both knew ONE THING. The blind beggar only knew that he was once blind, but after an encounter with Jesus Christ, now he could see. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew ONE THING as well—God was able to deliver them, but if He didn’t, they were not going to bow down to a false god. Once our eyes are open (like that blind man), we know not know much, but we know who God is! Everything may not work out as WE planned, but things work out the way HE planned.
Knowing ONE THING is liberating. It means we don’t have to keep up with a whole bunch of things. It means we only have to know the ONE PERSON and the ONE THING. I had a pastor once years ago who used to say, “keep the main thing the main thing.” That is very true. So here are a few things to ponder today:
In what areas have you been blind? Where have you been lacking in sight? What are you gonna do about it?
What do you do when it gets really difficult to serve God? What are some things you do daily that need to be changed? What are you gonna do about it?
How have you taken the ONE THING and made it the MAIN THING? What are your specific steps to do so? What are you gonna do about it?
When you take these steps, what obstacles get in your way? How have you allowed obstacles to stop you? What are you gonna do about it?
As you can see, there is one question that I asked over and over…knowledge means nothing if not applied. All the knowing in the world won’t get you where you need to be unless you take that first step and just do it. Nike was really onto something with that slogan, in my opinion. There will always be things to hold you back. Always. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had a huge thing holding them back, and so did the blind beggar. Most of us aren’t Babylonia slaves, and my guess would be that if you’re reading this, you have sight. (or at least glasses to assist you in reading this). So, what are you gonna do about it?
This is a rather tough one this morning. I don’t mean to be tough on you, but I am a life coach, after all, and life coaches don’t always ask easy questions. I am praying that God will show you that ONE THING today, and that you will do something about it. God bless, my dear friends!
