Reaching for a Balance
Posted: September 09, 2015
How do you look at things? Is your glass half-full or half-empty? Is pretty good, good enough, or do you keep looking for ways to make it better?
I admit I’m kind of a glass half-empty kind of guy. I know I should be more able to see the glass half-full and be positive, and I’m working on that.
But I tend to see all the things I didn’t do, or couldn’t do, or did wrong, or can’t do yet… you get the idea.
Seriously, when I finally hit a goal I’ve been working on, I tend to enjoy it for about three hours. Then it’s on to the next thing. In fact, if there isn’t a windmill to tilt with, I start getting pretty restless. Wait a week, and I’m getting irritable. I guess I’m goal oriented.
I had a boss one time who said, “Just give him a goal and turn him loose. He’s like a bull-dog.” Yeah, that’s me. Bulldog Dolan. I’m pretty sure that’s how God made me. Sometimes you need those qualities to get things done.
So I chafe just a bit between things, especially during the waiting periods. But show me how doing A leads to B, and I’m fine. It can even take years, as long as we’re making clear, measurable progress toward the goal.
I think I would have had trouble if I’d of been there in the desert wandering around for 40 years with the children of Israel. But God had a purpose for them there. They were being shaped, tested, forging character. But 40 years?
They were also being disciplined for their disobedience. Yikes! Lord, help me learn how to be obedient, because the wandering around would probably kill me!
Still, there has to be a balance in there somewhere. The Apostle Paul was one of the most driven people ever. He was driven to persecute and even kill Christians, before he saw the light on that road to Damascus.
After his conversion, he was driven to preach the gospel and build up the church. But even this forceful Apostle who penned much of the New Testament, wrote that he’d learned to be content.
David, the young shepherd who slew Goliath, became a mighty warrior, and leader of other great warriors. But even this great king learned how to “Be Still” before the Lord.
When he wanted to build the temple and God said “No,” he accepted it. He then devoted the rest of his reign to gathering materials and drawing up plans for his son Solomon, who would ultimately be the one to build it.
So, glass half-full, or glass half-empty? I’m not sure it really matters, as long as we’re getting done what we need to, and resting when we’re supposed to. And thankful that we’ve at least got something in the glass!