Well, most of you have survived the first day of school. Congratulations! How many of you feel completely exhausted after that first day of school? My hand is up high on that one! By the time my kids went to bed, I was down for the count, and the motivation to do anything profitable went right out the window. Oh, I had plenty still left that needed to be accomplished, but I didn’t feel like doing a single thing on that list.
Have you ever had a giant “to do” list running in your head, but just didn’t feel like doing any of it, and instead decided to rest and wait to accomplish what needed to be done until you felt up to doing it?
I heard a wise woman once say, “Motivation is a nonsense.” Meaning, the idea that you will suddenly gain the desire and the will to do something you know is good, simply because of a feeling, is complete nonsense. You must first start to do the thing that you know is good for yourself, or that is a responsibility that is expected of you, or a command that God has given you, and THEN after you have done it for a while, you may begin to actually have the desire to WANT to do it.
A verse that has often come to mind when I feel less than motivated to do what I know I should do is James 4:17:
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
We often think of sin as doing something that God commands us not to do. Though that is true, we can also sin by not doing something that God has clearly commanded us to do. I want to challenge you to think about the areas in your life that God has convicted you about needing to change in your life recently. Before the school year consumes you, create a game plan on how you will specifically strive to accomplish the will of God in your life. If you want to be more consistent in your devotions, determine right now when you are going to have that time with God and stick to it. If you want to be more of an encourager, set a plan to be intentional with your encouragement once a week or day or whatever God lays on your heart, and then start doing it right away. The more you simply obey God’s commands because it is the right thing to do, the more you will be motivated to continue.
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