AN ENEMY CALLED AVERAGE BY JOHN MASON (NUGGETS #17 & # 18)
NUGGET #17
NOAH DIDN’T WAIT FOR HIS SHIP TO COME IN- HE BUILT ONE
Seize the moment! Oral Robert once said , “ Miracles are coming by you or to you everyday.” Today was once the future from which you expected so much in the past. Horatio Dresser said , “ The deal never comes. Today is ideal for him who makes it so .” Live for today. D on ‟t let what you have within your grasp today be missed entirely because only the future intrigued you, and the past disheartened you. Doing the best at this moment puts you I the best place for the next moment? When can you live if not now? All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today. Seneca said, “ B eg in at once to live.” Ellen Metcalf remarked , “ There are many people who are at the right p lace at the right time but don’t know it.”
It is okay to take time to play, but when the time of action has arrived, stop thinking and go for it! The Bible says, “ Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom ” (Psalm 9 0:12). Marie Edgeworth said, “ There is no moment like the present. The man who will not execute his resolutions when they are fresh on him can have no hope from them afterwards; for they will be dissipate, lost and perished in the hurry and scurry of the world, or sunk in the slough of indolence.
John Burroughs said , “ The lesson which life repeats and constantly reinforces is, Look under foot: You are always nearer than you thin k… T h e great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour.” The most important thing in our lives is what we are doing now. Know the real value of today. I agree with Jonathan Swift when he said , “ May your live all the days of our life.” The future that you long and dream for begins today. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “ Write it on your heart that everyday is the best day of the year.”
The regrets that most people experience in life come from failing to act when they have an opportunity. Albert Dunning said, “ Great opportunities come to all, but many do not know that they have met them. The only preparation to take advantage of them is to w a tch each day brings.” Heed 2 Corinthians 6 :2 : “ Now is the accepted time.” I agree with Martial w hen he said , “ Tomorrow life is too late; live today.” Wayne Dyer observed , “ Nowis all we have. Everything that has ever happened, anything that is ever going to happen to you , is just a thought.” Today, well lived w ill prepare you for both the opportunities and the obstacles of tomorrow.
Few know when to rise the occasion. Most only know when to sit down. Many spend too much time dreaming of the future, never realizing that a little of it arrives everyday. I agree with Ruth Schabacker when she said , “ Everyday co m es bearing with its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.”
===================================================================================
NUGGET #18
FEAR AND WORRY ARE INTEREST PAID IN ADVANCE ON SOMETHING YOU MAN NEVER OWN.
Fear is a poor chisel for carving out tomorrow. Today, if you are viewing your future from a position of fear or worry. I want to let you know that view is not accurate or correct. Instead, view your future from a position of faith . That‟s the truth . Worry is simply the triumph of fear over faith. There is a story about a woman crying profusely and standing on a street corner. A man came up to her and asked why she was weeping. The lady shook her head and replied : “ I was just thinking that may be someday I would get married. We would later have a
beautiful baby girl.
Then one day this child and I would go for a walk along this street, and my darling daughter would run into the street, get hit by acar, and die.” It sounds like a pretty ridiculous situation-weeping because of something that will probably never happen. Yet we act this way when we worry. We blow a situation out of proportion that might not ever come to pass.
Anold Swedish proverb says, “ Worry gives a small thing a big
shadow.” Worry is simply the misuse of the creative imagination that God has placed within each of us. When fear rises in our minds we should learn to expect the opposite in our lives. The opposite of fear is faith.
The word worry is derived from an Anglo-Saxon term meaning to strangle or to choke off. There is no question that worries and fears to choke off the creative flow from God. The less you worry, the more ideas, insight, and revelation you will have.
Things are seldom as they seem , “ Skim milk masquerades as cream,” said W .S . Gilbert. As we dwell on and worry about matters beyond our control, a negative effect begins to set in. Too much analysis always leads to paralysis. Worry is a route that leads from somewhere to nowhere. Never let it direct your life.
In Psalm 5 5 :2 2 the Bible says, “ Cast thy burden upon the Lord , and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved .” Never respond out of fear, and never fear to respond . Action attacks fear; inaction reinforces it. Don’t worry and don’t fear. Instead , take your fear and worry to the, Lord , “ casting all your care upon Him ; for he cares for you ”
(1 Peter 5:7