“I feel fine. I want to keep running.”- Devotion

Do I need to slow down a bit? What happened to taking things one step at a time? To be honest sometimes I rush into a matter, am naïve or lack good judgment. A wise person thinks before acting. Every move we make is vital; every word we say counts.

I was exercising the other day with Buck at the gym. We were running side by side on treadmills. Buck has been my trustworthy exercise coach for about 10 years now. The digital reading on the treadmill kept asking for my heart rate every few seconds. I was frustrated that I had to place my hands on the handrails for a check so often. I wanted to jog along at the pace with which I was familiar without disturbance. Guess what? My heart rate was too fast. I was not in the target zone. I had to slow down. I did not feel like I needed to reduce my speed though. I looked at my coach and said, “I feel fine. I want to keep running.” He quickly made me aware that my legs may be in better shape than my heart. Wow, that stung! Exercising is about the long term effect—good health, not immediate results—completing the workout. I had to pace myself.

I would have to say sometimes I also lose site of the healthiest way to do things spiritually, because personal desire overrules godly logic. The two can be effectively intertwined only when we intently seek to know His desire and timing. Occasionally I move in too quickly. I do not want my actions, even the good ones, to get ahead of God’s perfect will. It may mean that I need to pause a second and not be afraid of slowing down—monitoring the situation—before I proceed or thinking before I speak—silence. “I wisdom dwell with prudence…” (Proverbs 8:12).
In His Love,
Les
Jan 2011

Another gift just for you…

You can hear Dima's, Sveta's, Sergei's and Marina's story now.

A team of IMB workers recently finished pulling together a devotional guide of encouraging stories from the Russian cluster. I posted it on the sidebar for your convenience. You, dear stateside prayer warriors and fellow colleagues, have asked how to get more copies of this booklet. Please click on the Blessings cover photo on the side of this blog page referenced along with IMB stories; it is a free E-devotional download just for you. You will need Adobe Reader to view it.

A little insight into the devotional:

"Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." Luke 10:23-24

I cannot stress in words how much we are thankful for you and all you do. Over the years of our missionary experiences, you have been faithful to co-labor with us; we value your partnership. Many of you have prayed for numerous hours that souls would be saved, joined us on mission trips and given monetary support. Therefore, we wanted to collect stories of salvations, new church starts or new groups and baptisms to encourage ourselves and you with what God is doing in our harvest field (Blessings, 2009, 3).

In His Love,
Les