Pressing Amidst Chaos

All I can say, it is a good thing my word for 2018 is "Press."

I've definitely had to press on.

As my readers know, I chose two goals this year:  walk 6,000 steps and write 500 words (not necessarily on my blog) a day.

And yet, when chaos ensues, what is the first thing to fly out the window? My resolve becomes weak and those two goals fly out the window.

The downside of goal setting is the temptation to forget the whole thing the first time you get off-track.

Getting off-track is part of life. Stuff happens.

If you are serious about your goals, then learning to encourage yourself to go on is key.

For me, the answer is always found in scripture.

I love how God always works things around for me. He will use a circumstance, a random conversation, even a book or a blog-post to speak a word to my situation.

The other day, my friend Dayna and I were having a theological discussion. (We love those!) She mentioned she felt the Lord speak the word "pursue" into her prayer time.

Pursue immediately reminded me of a teaching I once heard on Psalm 23:6.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

Did you know the word translated "follow" in the original Hebrew can mean pursue?

In other words, goodness and mercy pursue the believer.

How cool is that?

Other definitions of the word also include, "chase."

One could say, "goodness and mercy are going to chase me down."

Such a statement really speaks to me and fires me up!

Dayna's opinion was we should pursue righteousness - and she is totally right. Believers should definitely be pursuing the Righteous One. (Because our own righteousness totally stinks.)

I see a beautiful picture of a believer pursuing God with goodness and mercy pursuing her. She ends up totally surrounded by goodness, mercy and the presence of God. What an awesome place to be!

A place you'd want to dwell in for the rest of your life...

How does that motivate me to continue my goals? It makes me want to press on, knowing that goodness and mercy are going to find me.

It's just a matter of timing.

~~~

I'm linking this post with the community at #InspireMeMonday because who doesn't need something inspirational on a Monday?