Week 42 Devotional | WONDERING

Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9). 

This week, I have wasted a lot of time doing a lot of WONDERING.

- I have been WONDERING if I am a good enough coach and trainer.
- I have been WONDERING if I am a good enough dad.

- I have been WONDERING if I am doing enough or if I am good enough.

When I was an athlete, I did a lot of WONDERING too. 

- I would WONDER if I was good enough to be on the team or to start.

- I would WONDER if I could compete with my opponent.

- I would WONDER if I was ever going to hit the growth spurt that I thought I needed to play sports in college.

I say I wasted a lot of time WONDERING because WONDERING is a waste of time. Nothing good or productive comes by sitting around and WONDERING about anything. You reap what you sow, and I had to, and still have to, decide to do good work as often as I can and trust that God will fill in the gaps and take care of what I can’t take care of.

Our minds are a battlefield. There is spiritual warfare going on in our minds, and the devil uses our thoughts to attack us. One way that he does this is by putting doubts in our minds that make us WONDER if we are good enough.

This WONDERING does nothing but holds us back, makes us procrastinate, makes us indecisive, and causes confusion. Instead of spending our time WONDERING, let's expect that something good will happen to us and through us today and this week. Decide to wake up a little early, pray, and get your day started off right. Decide to control your thoughts and not let them wander off into negative pits throughout the day. Decide to tell yourself positive things throughout the day to keep you going.

Below is an impactful Bible verse to lean on when your mind is WONDERING:

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 5:5-11).

What I love best about these verses is that they make clear that we are not alone in our WONDERING. Everyone's mind WONDERS. God knows this and he is with us all.

THIS WEEK

1 - When you find your mind WONDERING, what is one thing that you can do to get it back on track? I write down what I am supposed to focus on and doing, and I cross it out when I have completed my task.

2 - When your mind WONDERS and it leads to anxiety, stress, and confusion, what is one thing that you can do to get it back on track? Again, I write. I write down what I am supposed to be doing and I write down what is keeping me from doing it. Facing reality usually helps me realize that my fear is bigger than my reality.

Prayer
Our Father; I know that the enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. But I know that you have already conquered the enemy. Please give me focus, guidance, and joy. Please help me focus on what I need to focus on, please give me guidance while I do what I need to do, and please help me to have joy as I am doing it.

For a Google doc version, click here: Week 42 Devo | Wondering