Focus: Success or Survival?
“… don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors!" (Matthew 10:22-23 MSG).
Do you ever become discouraged when you try to measure your success?
When life gets challenging, I’m often tempted to give up, especially when I try to measure my success at that time by someone else's accomplishments.
Survival. Jesus encouraged his disciples with these words found in Matthew 10, as He prepared to send them out to serve others. He knew they would face tough times. And He knew that they would need to focus on surviving during their most difficult days and not judge themselves too harshly.
Focus. This passage in Matthew encourages me to allow myself the privilege of focusing on my survival during a crisis, instead of trying to analyzing the situation to find some underlying purpose or judge myself according to some standard of perfection or success.
Grace. Not only do we need to give grace to others when they are in a crisis, but we also need to offer that same grace and forgiveness to ourselves.
Give yourself a break! "It is not success you are after in such times but survival."
Photo/KarenJordan
Can you think of a time when you needed to focus on survival rather than your success?
Posted by Karen Jordan at 19 Jul 2011 
Categories: Equipping Disiples, Encouraging Spiritual Stories
Tags: anxiety comfort encouragement faith fear Focus 2011 forgiveness mercy negative thoughts remembering promises writing prompt worry word power grace
Categories: Equipping Disiples, Encouraging Spiritual Stories
Tags: anxiety comfort encouragement faith fear Focus 2011 forgiveness mercy negative thoughts remembering promises writing prompt worry word power grace
Comments