Sometimes It’s Hard To Keep On When No One Is Interested

In the voice of “full disclosure,” I can say that writing a blog for over 10 years has been a blast. Very few ever respond to my public post. That means I can develop myself without anyone seemingly interested in what I say.

Some like to keep journals; I like to write posts. Some want everything private. I really don’t care what people think about my viewpoint. Still, at times it’s hard to keep writing when you feel like there is no one interested.

This morning, I’m thinking about last month. It was the first month of the new year that we would wipe out the pandemic virus. Of course, it’s not happened, and I’m not so sure that we’ll see it handled this year. But that doesn’t mean I give up and quit. There’s something about me that revolves around the attitude of perseverance.

This put me into a thinking curve the past several thousands of years.

If we never persevere through, then we will never have what we enjoy today. It’s the quitters that never enjoy a hard fought victory.

If I know anything about me, I’m not a quitter.

Yes. I’ve walked away from some friendships and jobs, but their reasons were often related to viral situations and deteriorating attitudes. From “them,” or even “me.” Sometimes we are our own worst enemy, and we must defeat our own attitudes and deficiencies to grow.

Think About It

For all the things we enjoy today, someone had to fight through and past all the detractors and barriers, from national boundaries to better racial equality (even though it’s far from perfect), to technological marvels that would have been viewed as magic or witchcraft 100 years ago.

We’ve grown through the challenges that might keep us in the dark ages.

We have spacecraft that have left our solar system (2012 and 2018). They have moved into the heliopause and are still communicating to earth scientists about the experience!

How did we get there? It was the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk that helped launch us off this planet! December 17, 1903! 12 seconds in the air and 120 feet covered!

My. How far we’ve come over the past century. In fact, the 20th Century will probably go down in history as that founding glory that established the future! Cars, Planes, Communications, Medicine! Local, national, and global! Some of the greatest minds looked past the tinderbox of negativity and imagined a future. They set the stage for the names we take for granted in our modern times.

Today

As a result of making it through the first month of the year, successfully. I wandered down the path of considering what would be missed if we quit. Gave up. Turned inward and away from all the opportunities that create a better tomorrow.

For me, today, that’s like me thinking we stop praying because it accomplishes so little. Or “cancel” the Bible because it tells the past story that does no good for today’s politics. Some want to throw away our past! What they want today will probably be tossed by those in the future.

For me, even living a Christian life that keeps me separated from worldly influence paints its signature on every part of daily life—living holy—serving a righteous God—having spiritual connections that make it easy to pass through this life with strength.

If we are to grow, then our spiritual connection needs to grow as well as our physical connection to life.

The wisest man of scripture says it like this:

Just as water mirrors your face,
so your face mirrors your heart.
(Proverbs 27:19 MSG)

It’s that inward person that we need to better care for! Jesus describes the Pharisees as clean on the outside, but their inside is full of ravening and wickedness! (Luke 11:39) The Apostle Paul teaches us that even though our outward man perishes, that inward part of us is renewed every day! (2 Corinthians 4:16)

My Foundation

I fight with my outward and inward man all the time. Most of us do. We ignore one or the other at the peril of an early demise. Then what?

The Apostle Paul teaches a twisted logic lesson about choices that is so telling about how most of us live. Every day!

What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way,
but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise.
So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it,
it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
But I need something more!

For if I know the law but still can’t keep it,
and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions,
I obviously need help!
I realize that I don’t have what it takes.
I can will it, but I can’t do it.
I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it;
I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.

My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions.
Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it’s predictable.
The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
(Romans 7:15-21 MSG)

Summation

With his words in mind and the training of a lifetime that brings me to my point, I choose never to give up doing that which many think is a complete waste of time. From maturing my spiritual man to writing a daily post, I choose to live the way I believe.

No matter if anyone is interested.

After all, if you’re not listening to me, then you have no interest in what I say or do. But there is One who cares, and it’s for Him that I live, breathe and have my being. (Acts 17:28)

Lost Muscle Memory – Making Sense of Life One Thought at a Time

There are times we "forget" how things go. We've lost the memory of the muscle to do something. You can restore and rehabilitate it, sure, but what if you've lost your muscle memory with God? — Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/michael-gurley/support

1. Lost Muscle Memory 04:41
2. The Purpose of Snow 04:34
3. Of All The Things We Want 02:49