How I See God Affects Everything Else in My Life

Lately, I've been reading again The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer. It's a book that attempts to describe several of God's attributes such as His eternity, His transcendence, His holiness, and His love. Although I've read it a few times, I like to reread it to help remind myself of God's attributes. It's amazing how my attitude toward life changes as I take time to think about what God is like.

This time through so far I've been struck by by God's wisdom and His power. I sometimes doubt in my heart whether God is truly in control of the world and if He is intelligent enough to handle all of the problems that occur. I am more convinced now that God is infinitely wise and powerful even over seemingly uncontrollable situations (to me, anyway). This gives me comfort and it helps me be more believing in prayer. It means a lot to me to understand that how I view God affects my whole outlook on my life. It also helps me feel safer knowing that God is powerful even over things like suffering and over so-called chance and powerful beings like Satan. God is truly worthy of worship and service! There is no one like Him!

Making Goals (aka Resolutions) for the New Year

I have a few days off from work this week partly because of the New Year's holiday and partly because the economy is slow, so I'm setting some goals for 2009. I'm not very good at setting goals and I have to admit that it's very daunting. There's a voice in my head that keeps saying, "Why set goals? You know you probably won't meet them anyway, so why are you bothering to do it?" And that voice also says, "You're not like other people who are good at accomplishing what they set out to do." I don't think that voice is accurate, but it's what I hear in my head a lot. So, it's hard to sit down and do it. Plus, I haven't made it a habit of setting goals in my life. Now I really regret that, but I can't look back and wallow in regret! I must move forward! I know that setting goals is a profitable exercise and it seems like a wise thing to do, even if I don't achieve exactly every goal. I would probably be better for having set goals than if I had not planned to do accomplish anything.

I find it comforting to realize that no matter how old I am (I'm turning 40 in a few days) that God can take what I offer Him and do some amazing things with it even though I don't deserve it. There are examples of people who have made some significant accomplishments even though they were older. I do see the advantage of starting off well during one's youth, but that's not my situation right now. I will learn to be wise with what I have now and offer it to God and ask for His blessing on it and grace. He still lets me live for a reason and I think His reason for doing so will be seen in time as I offer Him my life and serve Him.

Tonight I updated a sheet that I use to give my age at different stages in increments of 1, 2, and then multiples of 5 years. I do this for my parents and siblings, too. It really shocks me in a good way! It helps me to realize how precious time is and how little of it I really have to work with (and actually I don't know if I will be alive tomorrow). So, I'm glad I do it. It seems like a tedious exercise, but I know it will prove useful. It's kind of like how I feel bad after exercising sometimes but then later I feel better than I did before I exercised. So, that's my hope. :)