If you do not happen to belong to this category, well, congratulations! But I'd also have you know that there is always a better way to doing stuff and living life, just so you don't settle for whatever wonderful position you might find yourself in at the moment.
So, first things first, what does it actually mean to 'Settle'?
The meaning of the word varies over a wide range of definitions but in the context of this article it means, "To become fixed or permanent; to become stationary; to establish one's self or itself; to assume a lasting form, condition, direction, or the like, in place of a temporary or changing state.", just so we're clear of the kind of 'settle' we're actually talking about.
At the beginning of the year, a lot of us probably made resolutions, plans, set goals and did a whole lot of restructuring so that we could make the most of the year. For some of us, our plans have yielded good and satisfiable results, for some of us also on the other hand, things haven't as much as turned out as we planned. Most of us are then out of frustration throwing in the towel seeing it's already mid year and settling for whatever the rest of the year has to offer. While also considering those for whom the sun has been shining ever so brightly that have decided to bask in the rays while forgetting that there's a rainy season ahead. We might have chosen to settle for less and this decision whether taken unconsciously or deliberately is exactly what sets apart the champions from the winners and the winners from the quitters.
What most of us don't know is that settling is as good as giving up because a person who thinks he or she has reached his peak starts to retrogress. Life is progressive, change is the only constant thing, we must keep moving against all odds!
Settling just because you feel you've achieved quite a lot or next to nothing is like canceling a journey just because you've run out of fuel.
We are in a constant state of facing one challenge or the other, this is what life is all about. And as we overcome those challenges we improve ourselves and our standards of living and the cycle goes on and on. Its puzzling to know that some of the time, we're almost already at the peak of our breakthrough when we decide to call it quits, pack our bags, hold our horses and settle, for less usually.
Just because everything you planned out has not happened in your timing doesn't mean they're not going to happen after all. "But Kiki it's midyear already!" I know but a lot can happen in one day you know...Joseph the biblical character had his life transformed overnight. One night he was sleeping in a prison next night he was in the palace!
Our christian life was also designed to be progressive, moving from one degree to another, growing in depth of the knowledge of God. The moment you start to think you know all you need to know about God, you enter a state of familiarity and complacency. This gradually gives room for lukewarmness as your fire begins to fizzle out.
One prayer that struck me while reading a book was, "Lord, don't take me to where you can't reach me!", before like some of my friends would say "He'll just close your heaven!"
See, in all ramifications of life, settling on past achievements and dwelling on past failures will truncate God's original purpose for our lives. Just like He said in his word in the 18th and 19th verse of the 43rd chapter of the Prophet Isaiah, "Remember he not the former things, neither consider the things of the old. Behold I do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it...?"
God is always doing a new thing but we're always so caught up in either our past victories or defeats that we do not see Him breaking boundaries and moving mountains for our sakes. It's time to open our eyes to new possibilities, to what the rest of the year has to offer us.
It's not the time to SETTLE DOWN but the time to MOVE FORWARD.
Comments
Post a Comment