“Life is a game of inches! It’s full of close calls and course corrections. In my experience, life’s detours have a way of rerouting us. So do disappointments. In fact, a disappointment can turn into a divine appointment.”- Mark Batterson
“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest?’ I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for the harvest.”- john 4:35 (NIV)
On Day 23 (“Do It Now”) of Do It for a Day, Mark Batterson talks about the man considered the greatest ventriloquist of all time – Edgar Bergen. For Edgar, a childhood disappointment turned into a divine appointment. As a boy, Bergen ordered a book on photography. But, he received a book on ventriloquism instead. And that mix-up led to his life’s calling.
Most significantly, Bergen’s daughter – actress Candice Bergen – described her father as a reserved man. A man who found it difficult to express himself. Yet, he created a dummy with the complete opposite personality – Charlie McCarthy.
Pastor Batterson relates this to habit cycles:
“When it comes to making and breaking habit cycles, we have to start identifying the prompt. That includes the prompting of the Holy Spirit. If you don’t obey His prompting this time, you’ll be less likely to obey next time. Why? Disobedience hardens our hearts and our hearing.”
In conclusion, Mark reminds us that delayed obedience leads to disobedience. Consequently, the author advises, do it now! Of course, the hardest step is the first step. Because you must overcome inertia.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, like David’s best friend Jonathan, was driven by a holy urgency. Dr. King referred to it as the fierce urgency of now. This is the urgency of conviction. Rather than an anxious urgency. So, don’t wait for something to happen. Instead, make something happen. Above all, give yourself a start date and a deadline. Don’t wish upon a star, start the clock.
Today’s question: Do you see life as a game of inches? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Object permanence – habit formation key”
