When something bad happens to us, we are often quick to ask, "Why me, God?" Or, when something good happens to someone else, we may ask, "Why not me, God?"
In God's Word, we are instructed to ask questions of ourselves about ourselves when things aren't going as we'd planned or desired. Haggai 1:5 - 6, tells us to "consider your ways" to find the root of many problems:
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
In other words - if you feel like you're trying and trying, but still not succeeding, it might be time to "consider your ways!"
It's time to consider what you're thinking...what you're saying...and what you're doing. Although asking tough questions of ourselves can be painful, it is also often the key to breaking the mindsets, belief systems, and behaviors that keep us from truly achieving our goals in life.
It's true that you might get uncomfortable looking at yourself with such deep, introspective consideration. You might not like all that you see when you stare long and hard into the depths of your own soul. But you must be willing to identify, and then confront, those things inside of you that continue to keep you from victory.
Remember: you can't conquer what you don't confront!
A man once told me it took him two years to venture into his basement after he'd moved into a new home. When he finally descended the staircase, he didn't like what he saw! "I found evidence of critters that had made their way through a broken window screen; there was rust on the water heater that was troublesome; there was debris everywhere, and the critters had made their way into boxes of old clothing and paperwork I'd put there when I first moved in. It was a mess!"
It took the man four weekends and two trips to the city dump to get the basement in good order; but after he'd accomplished the job, he said, "I felt like I'd moved a mountain. Nobody else was aware of the work I'd done, but I certainly slept better at night knowing that I had a reliable water heater, and a clean organized basement I could actually use."
Cleaning out, sorting, or repairing the damage in your inner self is very much like the work that man had to do to clean out his wreck of a basement. It's hard work - and nobody else may see or appreciate what you're doing. But it's incredibly beneficial, and may be the key to restoring order to things in your life that are out of order.
So take the first step and "consider your ways" - to break through to victory, God's way!
Pastor Paula White
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