Life is busy.
It’s easy to spend our entire day just reacting to the barrage of to-dos on our schedule, as well as reacting to the unscheduled ones that will inevitably pop up. These reactions have the tendancy to be driven by shortsightedness and emotion, which have the ability undo the kind of influence we’re hoping to achieve.
One way to prevent this kind of offhand reaction is to give ourselves time to pause a few seconds before responding. By taking a breath and thinking about how our next steps will move us toward or away from our specific goals and worldview, we can often prevent a knee-jerk, emotionally-driven response.
For Christians, we’re also told to take our anxieties to God in prayer with thanksgiving. When we do this, the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Confiding in God clears the mind and soothes the spirit so that we’re able to slow down and respond in ways that won’t diminish our effectiveness.
Take time to be intentional in your thoughts, words, and actions.
And make sure you actually have a goal or two about which you can be intentional.
July 2, 2018