Messy is the method

WWW.TheDavidAlliance.com

1-6-19

Chocolate bismarck donut

It gets messy in the middle!

 

This Sunday I am at Grace church in New Glaurus Wisconsin It starts at 9:30 am

We not have 9 videos up on our vimeo page - if you are paid member check them out and go through your journals. Guys please sign up for a small group online free or otherwise! 

The key to growing in God consistently and living a life of an overcomer is understanding it’s messy in the middle.

 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

 

(I want you to) notice very closely that these next 3 steps are seen perfectly in the lives of the disciples and you will see them in your life the same way

 

The START

Take on anything in life - but especially a new spiritual endeavor and it only takes about 5% of your energy.

This is a high - it is an epiphany 

 -  Being a better dad, husband, employer

  - Reading the bible and praying

    - Going to church

       - Changing your habits

 

The GRIND

But the next 75% of your choice to change is the Grind…

The trick here is to realize you can’t do it in the flesh, on your own, by trying harder.  

You have to put more time into your trust in God and working on your relationship with him. 

 

The STRETCH

This is where 20% of your time will be at the end. You will see what you learned, how you grew and it will be applicable to other areas of your life. 

 

Lets pick something simple: One of your kids asks you a pretty simple bible question. You realize you don’t know the bible like you should.

5% epiphany - how will they ever learn it if you don’t learn it.

You will start to read the bible every day.

 

The Grind: it’s boring, you don’t have enough time, you don’t understand it, It doesn’t seem to be sinking in, it is not helping your personally etc…85% is this part.

 

*most men give up here - they say things like “well I tried, but its just not my gift, I don’t have a nack for it, I have to wait until next year, It’s really not that important as I thought it was. 

The stretch: This is where things accelerate if you hang on.

you realize looking back you learned some things.

You should have started meeting with your pastor earlier to help you understand the bible… now you love reading and studying

  - you found out these things called commentaries and they help you greatly to bring life to the bible

  - you started to journal about scripture and how to apply it in your life

  - you got it on CD and mp3 so you can listen to it on your phone

  - You got a translation that you can easily understand 

  - and you got a bible that had study notes at the end of the verses to give greater insight

it took a year and a half - but you didn’t give up.

Lets make it simpler:

You want to surprise your wife and kids with some homemade chocolate chip cookies. You find a recipe on your phone. 

The epiphany - 5% effort on your part. They are going to love you! This will be easy.

 

The grind: you gotta get all the ingredients. You think you have them at home but you don’t so after 3 trips to the store you start mixing everything… it’s messy, it’s confusing (is that table spoon or tea spoon) Crap I used powder sugar not flower…

Then you have to roll them out into little balls and place them on a cookie sheet and finally in the oven.

Now the stretch: as they are baking, Just the smell alone makes it worth the effort. But as they bake you debrief on the day. You realize, I should have asked my mom for some insight, I should have checked ahead of time for ingredients, I should have maybe looked at a youtube video, I could have understood table vs. tea spoon etc… 

But when the cookies come out and your wife and kids come home… they are shocked and love what you did for them. 

 

 

Look there are a lot of great quotes I could give you on persevering, on grinding through the tough times etc…

BUT THE TRUTH IS THIS SIMPLE…

We don’t typically give up because it is just to hard, we give up because it is just to messy, long, tiring…

 

Don’t give up in the middle of the mess!