It’s that time of the year again for serious resolutions. My first experience with it was in 1976. I owned the bar then and during the course of a normal day at work, I would go through two to three packs of cigarettes and wash them down with a beer or two.
It got to a point where I couldn’t sleep at night because of the coughing, unless I propped myself up into a sitting position; but that got old, fast. So I decided to quit. . .and then I decided to quit again. . . and again and again. All of the sheep know what it’s like to try to quit doing something or try to start doing something. . . or try to change, or manage things differently. Someone in the back row just shouted out, “Hey man, you’re preaching to the choir.” It’s one of the young wild asses who still can’t control himself all of the time. He had a serious problem that resolutions weren’t fixing. So out of desperation and as a last resort, he came to our Wait Watchers meeting.
“I will stand at attention and wait on the tower; and I will watch to see what He will say to me. . . and He said, ‘success is coming in a definite moment in time and although it seems like a long time in coming, wait for it because it shall surely come. It will not tarry (be late or procrastinate.)” Habakkuk 2:1-3
I was prompted to share this after having seen a commercial on TV, offering help to those wanting to lose weight. Oprah was the spokesperson. God bless her and all the others taking a shot at it. God bless everyone who’s trying with every ounce of strength they possess, to overcome any mental, physical or emotional burden that’s weighing them down.
At the very end of the commercial, the very last words (which accentuate the philosophy of the program) are, “When you realize you don’t have to give up anything, that’s when you know you can manage everything.” Coming from Oprah’s lips lends more credibility to the words and to the general philosophy of the program. When a powerful person speaks, the words inspire others powerfully.
“He gives power to the faint, and to those that have no might, He changes their source of strength (from their own to His); even youths shall struggle and be weary and young men and women shall utterly fail; but they that wait upon the Lord and watch for His Help shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. They will wait, then they will see. . . that what is impossible with man, is possible with God.” Isaiah 40:29-31
We usually open up our Wait Watcher’s meeting with a prayer. “Lord, we have no might against this strong adversary in our life that comes against us every day and neither do we know what to do, except this . . . to wait and watch for You. Our eyes are upon Your strength, not our own.
The people at the meeting today have been forced to give up. . .not only those things that they couldn’t live without (although those things were killing them); but also give up on waiting and watching for their own strength to free them. . .to save them from their misery. When they found themselves with nothing, only then did Control become a Reality.
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee Lord, in whose hearts are the ways of them who pass through the valley of Baca (a place of frustration and despair) and they find a Well that fills all their needs. They go from strength to Strength (from their own, to God’s).” Psalm 84:5-7
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faith. Self-Control! Gifts from God, through His indescribable Gift. . .His Son, Jesus, Who Manages every detail in the universe.
A Good Moment 