šš«š¤ Christās peace and presence be with you. As I was getting ready write to you this week, my husband Brian shared with me a line from a conversation he was part of earlier that day. Itās easier to keep digging the hole youāre in, than to climb your way out.
What do you think about that? Itās easier to keep digging the hole youāre in, than to climb your way out. Have you ever or are you now experiencing this type of feeling of hopelessness? The struggle could pertain to one aspect of your lifeā¦a coupleā¦or it could snowball from one to the next, to the point that you feel everything you do is taking you a shovel full deeper.
You didnāt get to that point because you had 50 shovels in your hands all at one time and you all of the sudden were 50 scoops deep. No, you got there one scoop, one decision, one action at a time. Which means your way out is also one scoop, one decision, one action at a time. Start with one choice that you know, without a shadow of a doubt, you can accomplish. If your struggle is spiritual, say an earnest prayer. If your struggle is financial, say no to the $6 drink. If your struggle is over eating and/or lack of exercise or movement, start by saying no to the food, just this once or saying yes to a 30 minute walk instead of watching a show on TV or scrolling through your phone.
One positive choice that you successfully accomplish betters your position by two. So how does one equal two? Think of it on a line graph. Youāre standing at 0. A negative choice/action takes you to -1. A positive choice/action take you to +1. Every time you make a choice or take action you will either move -1 or +1. Every time you make an unwise choice, it will take you two wise choices to get to +1. If youāre at -1, one wise choice gets you back to 0, then you need to make another wise choice to get you from 0 to +1. So, it would take you one unwise choice + two wise choices to get you to where you would have been if you had made a wise choice in the beginning.
Letās think about this for a moment. If you made three unwise choices in a row, aka itās easier to keep digging the hole youāre in, it would take you six wise choices to get you to +3. Compounding unwise choices can feel devastating. But when your sitting -50 scoops deep, one wise choice will keep you from digging yourself to -51 and bring you to -49. Every choice, every action will move you positively or negatively. The choice is yours. Yes, there are some things in life that we have no control over, which is why itās so important for you to positively impact that which you do have control over. If by the time dinner time comes, you find yourself five points to the negative, then you have until bedtime to turn those five points around.
One choice, one action, one aspect of your life moving in a positive direction, instead of negative, can provide you the motivation and determination to make another positive decision the next time. And another positive decision after that. You have what it takesā¦Free Will. And you also have the One who gave you that free will, cheering you on to make that positive choice. You are not in this alone, so donāt feel you have to do this on your own. And that right there is your first positive choice.
Bless others and be blessed.
Shelly :0)
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#CastingCrowns ā Slow Fade
Third Day Devotions 