Skip to main content

“If it were pain-free, we would act.”

A thought by Kyle Idleman (2014-03-01) from his book, AHA: The God Moment ThatChanges Everything (p. 171). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Kyle goes on to say, “Most of us don’t want to act, because we don’t want the pain. So we put it off.”

And that was true of me.  I hadn’t gone to the Doctor for over 6 years.  I was feeling pretty good but I knew there were a couple of areas I needed looked at.  I was feeling ok so I didn’t go.  A few months back I was listening to a sermon by Rick Warren and he said that taking care of himself physically was a personal thing until he got to thinking about how important he was to his family and how they would feel if something happened to him.  And that hit me where it needed to hit me.  So I had my wife make an appointment for me to go to see the Doctor as a 69th birthday present for my family. 

Now the spots on my head were skin cancer.  And I get the biopsy report on whether I have prostate cancer tomorrow.  The Doctor is pretty sure I don’t but he just wanted to make sure.  Now the stage two skin cancer surgery was an ordeal but it was a success.  The skin cancer has been taken care of.  But I had to go to the Doctor to have it taken care of.

Kyle says, “We put off the workouts, because we don’t want sore muscles. We put off living within our means, because we don’t want to cut back on our lifestyle. We put off the hard conversation, because we don’t want awkward tension. We put off getting help, because we don’t want to feel vulnerable. We put off asking for forgiveness, because we don’t want to embarrass ourselves.”

He then says, “The Prodigal Son knew how hard making the trip back home was going to be. He knew how painful it would be to see the disappointment in his father’s eyes. He knew how humbling it would be to feel the judgment and condemnation from his older brother. He knew it would be painful, shaming, and difficult. Waiting wasn’t going to make it any easier. In fact, the longer he put off action, the more difficult it would become. So he got up.”


So what are you putting off doing because of the pain?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

“God does big things with small deeds.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 115). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know how you feel about what you are doing and how it can make a difference.   You may feel that it is so small and not even worth the effort. Max says, “Begin. Just begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit, the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane. “On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks, none of which had exploded. “Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive cha...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...
Post a Comment
Read more