Where did February go? Somehow I got lost in the shortest month of the year-for really no good reason! I’d love to say I was super busy doing some really fun, creative things-but I wasn’t.
My February was similar to the weather-some sun-shiny, warm days peppered with dreary, cold days. I often find it hard to stay focused this time of year because I’m really not a fan of winter. There was just enough spring last month to make me want to fast-forward to April. Unfortunately, I had to take one day at a time and wait for spring to arrive. I get weary waiting for spring. This is not unlike how we can get weary waiting for God. While reading Joshua 1, I noticed a phrase that is repeated 4 times in v. 6, 7, 9, and 18…”be strong and courageous”. The Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan River into the promised land. They knew the land was theirs, but there were many powerful kingdoms already inhabiting the land that they were going to have to conquer. God started by reminding them that He was with Moses before and that He would be with them; that He would never leave them or forsake them. He then tells them to be strong and courageous. I knew those words were there, and that God had used them to encourage his people before the next step of their journey. However, I never paid attention to the fact that He said it 4 times, even adding “very strong” in verse 7. The first thing that came to my mind was “repeat, repeat, repeat…repeat”. How many times a day/week do I repeat the same things over and over? How often do I get tired of repeating things? The answer to that is often. I wonder why they can’t remember what I said and just do it. Then it hits me…How many times does God repeat the same things for me? The answer to that is also often..more than I’d care to admit. I wish that I’d learned my lesson the first time and moved on to the next thing. I spend too much time repeating the lessons I should have already mastered.
That was especially true in the month of February. Since I don’t like winter, I found myself just surviving everyday while waiting for the warmer weather. I repeated many lessons rather than mastering and moving on to something new and exciting. I don’t want to lose another month waiting for something that eventually comes exactly when it’s supposed to come. This life is a marathon not a sprint. I can’t sprint past the things I don’t enjoy, and I definitely don’t want to keep passing the same checkpoint again and again. I don’t want to survive the race. I want to thrive through the race in order to get the prize!
Nae's Notes 