“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” Ecclesiastes 9:10
This week, on the hottest day my boys and I went golfing with my dad. It has become an annual summer tradition to get at least one game in on the course to keep the kids learning and using those clubs. I joke that I go just to boost everyone’s self-esteem. I don’t have my own clubs; I just borrow one here and there from the rest of the group to see how I do. Many swings are embarrassing, but every once in a while I hit one that I am proud of and I celebrate! When you aren’t great at something it is hard to approach offering tips to someone else, but I offered a tip to my oldest about something to which he returned a tip to me, “Mom, you start swinging down hard and then you let up, follow through strong,” He said. He was totally right. So that time, I started to swing and I brought that force all the way through and did the best drive I had done all day. It was a beauty (not to be repeated again….but I’ll take it). That moment reminded me of how important it is to give our all. The difference it can make in everything!
I remembered back to track season. I was in 6th grade. I ran distance races like the 800m and 1600m. My goal was always “don’t lose.” It seemed a reasonable goal, but I didn’t set the bar that high, ha! Later I worked on just beating my time each meet. But one particular meet stands out. It was a home meet on a cinder track. It was hot and it was one of the last races of the day. Both of my parents had arrived and were waiting near the finish line chatting with other parents. It was a smaller meet, so the 6-8th grade girls got combined and we all were running one race. As I reached the final 200 m mark of the race, something came over me. I could see every runner lined up ahead of me and I just took off running full speed and passed one by one by one until I was across the finish line in first place. It was a shocker, so shocking, I’m not sure my parents even saw me win. My coach couldn’t believe I had scored our team 5 points and I learned a very valuable lesson. Go all in! You never know what may happen.
With the Olympic season here, you can watch amazing athletes that don’t half heart anything they do. They are all in or they wouldn’t be competing. The greats always are. Being all in gives you courage to do amazing things that you can’t do when you are half in or maybe three-quarters in. The same goes beyond athletics: at work, in music, and even relationships. What may be the difference of truly believing you are committed to something and swaying in doubt? You spend a lot of time wondering if you are in the right place rather than just being all in and enjoying the experience and even excelling at it. The difference in practicing one time on piano songs without correcting a missed note and playing a beautiful piece because you stopped to fix your errors. A relationship that lasted because each obstacle was approached together to better tackle future ones developing a beautiful friendship of resilience along the way instead of the one thrown away at the first conflict.
For a period of a few years, I moved into a home I knew was a transition, so I didn’t go “all in” to decorate. I didn’t get rugs or curtains or some of the other items that showed I was settled in. And after a couple years with no change in sight, I felt God whisper, make this home. So I went all in, loved my space, and within a year, the door opened to the next chapter. We often may wonder what is coming…..
But God…
He already knows and He wants us fully immersed in the experience He has led us to learn from it, experience His abundance and blessings in it, and feel free to do that. Parts of it may change along the way, but the beautiful acceptance of where we are and being all in while we are there is where abundance really can flow.
God wants our ALL.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
“Go, sell everything (all) you have…Then come, follow me.” Mark 10:21
And when we find ourselves in the midst of something we don’t want to do, He reminds us:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” Colossians 3:23
He wants our heart, our soul, our mind, our anxiety, our treasure. When we give Him ALL, we get abundantly blessed with provision, care, love, protection, and a life of an eternity of blessings awaits us! So this week, no holding back. Give whatever or whoever you are with all that you have and see what miracles and blessings may spring forth!
Father, it can be so difficult to give our all. Sometimes we are afraid to invest all of ourselves in fear of getting hurt or wasting time, energy, or resources. Sometimes we are afraid to fail and be all in with nothing to show for our efforts. The risk seems too great. Please make us strong and courageous so we can give our all to what we have been called to and let us experience the abundance that comes from doing so. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Father, Today I Surrender:
My All
Show me the next step I should take.