New Thinking Must Come | 09.03.12

I recently read a guide that contained a few sentences, which literally screamed from the pages at me.  The words spoke so powerfully to what I've been experiencing, even though they were written for another purpose.  With just a few minor alterations to them, I was able to use those words to pen a more fitting word of encouragement that clearly spoke to my situation.  I pray that it also speaks directly to yours.

"When building the infrastructure for the ongoing sustainability of a new undertaking, it is important to start small and increase gradually as resources permit.  If you set expectations too high in the beginning, there is the danger of viewing incremental achievements as failures when the reality is that this is a new undertaking and every step in the right direction is a success.  It takes time to accomplish anything of value.  Understand that building is a process."

In our excitement that GOD is doing a new thing in and through us, we often forget that with this "new thing" must come "new thinking."  Approaching the "new thing" with the "current thinking" will drive us to quit before we really even get started.  Measuring the success of something that's totally new against something already established is counterproductive to our progress.  We must remember that GOD is birthing something new in us in order to defy the limits we've imposed on ourselves or allowed others to place upon us.  GOD impregnates us with such grand possibilities so we can press past what we've come to know will work into a new realm in which our current thinking is rendered obsolete.  NEW opportunities present NEW challenges, which require NEW strategies born out of NEW thinking.

So be encouraged, friends, that when you're doing something you've never done before, avoid measuring your successes against those of others (or even your own prior successes).  See each step you take in the right direction as a success - PERIOD - and celebrate each one.  Don't compare your accomplishments to those of anyone else.  They're on their path, so you follow yours.  GOD gave you the vision for the work to which He's called you, so focus on following His lead.  Trust me, He will let you know when you veer offtrack.  Psalms 37:5 is a most reassuring reminder to us that when we commit our way to the LORD and trust in Him, He will bring to pass whatever we seek to accomplish for the sake of His glory.