I’ve been ill three out of the last five days. I’m feeling a little better this morning as I type this, but we’ll see how the day progresses. There are a lot of things that needed to be done that have been left undone simply because I didn’t have the energy or mental drive to complete them. I don’t get laid out by illness very often, so when I get sick, it’s normally not great.

Same song, different tune. Last Friday was “International Quitters Day” as it marks the day most people fall off from the New Year’s resolutions they made. Lacking drive and accountability, the old patterns of life kicked back in and they left behind their desire, their goals, their dreams of something better than where they had been previously.

So, it doesn’t matter if it’s illness, the drop off of an emotional high or some other distraction of life; If we get discouraged, we can lose our focus pretty quickly. I’m in it right now as I type this. I just started all of this separate effort last week. I’m working to bring back a discipline in my life that I had for years before we moved across country twice in the last 6 years. There were a lot of other things to focus on, other more pressing issues to address. I have 3 children we had to transition through these changes…and I could go on. Just like you can, too.

When it comes to listing our hardships, we are experts. When it comes to creating a list of excuses for why we can’t do things that will require extra determination and effort, it’s no problem whatsoever to produce a long-marching cavalcade of seemingly legitimate reasons for just collapsing into who we used to be.

But as Christians, we know this is against the design at work in us. Just look at a few (of many more) quick verses that echo this:

• “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6 ESV
• “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
• “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” – Hebrews 13:20-21

We’re a work in progress. And progress can come quickly, or slowly and over time. But we don’t have to feel guilty for handling the process imperfectly. If there is something at work in us that God wants to accomplish, then he will accomplish it. We operate by His strength, His wisdom, and according to His way. We can take all the pressure off of our own shoulders and cast it on Christ (1 Pet 5:7) if it is causing us anxiety, shame or disappointment.

When we own the fact that we come up short, and then find our motivation in the One who propels us forward instead, we will find a new lease on life when it comes to these desired changes in our lives. So you dropped the ball. So the flu laid you out for a bit…so what? Pick up where you left off and let God’s grace carry through! He is your sufficiency. He is the One with the plan for your growth and maturity in mind. It’s for His glory, so it’s for our good!

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” – Psalm 118:8