“You don’t have to have it all- to give all that you have.”
Excellence is a mindset.
Faithfulness with what God has given you is what determines your capacity to receive more.
My husband’s favorite supervisor challenged him with the 2% mentality. He says that if everyone left their work environment 2% cleaner than it was when they got there, eventually it would be spotless.
This Restoration process we are in looks much like that.
I was reading a book I had been given at Christmas and I was asked what I could have done differently in my efforts to change some situations that didn’t turn out like I wished they had.
I realized, the root of my failure was the fear to fail.
I chose not to do anything to prevent me from failing- But I got what I gave.
Nothing.
The fear of doing something wrong often causes us to do nothing at all.
This happened to the young servant that Jesus used in His parable of the talents.
| ¶ And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. |
| 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. |
| 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. |
| 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. |
| 15 ¶ And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. |
| 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. |
| 17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. |
| 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. |
| 19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. |
| 20 ¶ And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: |
| 21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. |
| 22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: |
| 23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? |
| 24 ¶ And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. |
| 25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) |
| 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. |
As I sat here this morning looking at this that I had written mid year last year,
the revelation of the “process” occurred to me again.
I want the Joy of my Salvation Restored NOW, actually at the very moment that I wrote it out, but restoration in and of itself is a process. My Joy is returning and being restored to me every day, as I take what God has given me with an attitude of gratitude. If I’m thankful for the things, even the little things, I see being restored, then more will be added.
So, I encourage you dear friend, take what you have at the beginning of this New Year and Thank God for it. Do something. It may not be everything you want it to be, but it’s something.
For me, it began yesterday, the First day the year, to decide if I wasn’t going to run at all because my time was limited, or run with excellence with what time I did have.
I chose to run.
“If you’re waiting on more before you give what you have, you will never have much.”
ThankFully Restored 