Only One Life Podcast #50
Either you are happy you only get one life or you are ready for a “Do-Over!” In this episode of A Few Minutes with God Podcast we explore the fact that people tend to wish their current life away for something other than what they have. Are you happy in the moment or does your happiness tend to focus on what is just out of your reach?
Living life in the present moment sounds like something out of a soap opera or novel. In stories, things seem to turn out happy or at least have a satisfying ending. In the commercial sense, if a story fails to deliver whether it is entertainment, special effects, or a memorable main character, it is considered a flop. Only one life is all we have — it is the content of songs, it is the name of books by various authors, and I am by far not the only person who has contemplated this subject.
But we only have one life.
I’ve met so many people who are unhappy or dissatisfied with life, and truthfully I’ve had periods of time in my life where I wanted to spend it in bed, hoping the day would just end.
Yet, I’ve realized, this is it — this is the only life I will ever have, so the way I live my life, the decisions I make, the day-to-day interactions I have all can be impactful. Not only for my own life but for those I meet. This realization is something we should consider when our feet hit the ground each day. Are you ready to take the world on or are you cowering under the sheets and want the day to end?
Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you ready to embrace the day no matter what happens?
- Do you greet those you see with a smile?
- Are you aware of your surroundings?
- Do you see those around you in need?
- Do you hope to be remembered for who you are or what you do?
How do you change if the answer to any of those questions is something you don’t want to face or acknowledge? The first step is to be prayerful, grounded in the Scriptures and a love of God.
Recently I spoke to a friend who shared that the reason people embrace 100% of a what a self-help or how-to book teaches is that they are not grounded in what God teaches. — think, “how to parent,” or “how to have a wonderful marriage.” Sometimes these books or trends take the world by storm and everyone is chatting about the latest-greatest. They try these methods or techniques and find it failing dismally! Why? Because it is not one size fits all — or even most.
As we live our lives, I hope that we glorify Almighty God and give Him the praise He deserves. We only have this one chance to get it right and that is not something we can do well or consistently or well on our own. We can only keep our eyes focused on what is most important and pray that the rest works itself out!
When I hear about the issues and problems in other people’s lives I’m often amazed at the ways that they cope. Either they completely turn their backs to God, they become indifferent, or they turn to God for their strength. In a nutshell that is how I want to live my life, to rely upon the Lord for my strength to combat each issue that happens day-to-day.
And I fail. Miserably.
In those times when I feel that I’ve failed, there is only one thing to do. To pray. To ask for forgiveness. To read the Scriptures.
1 Thessalonians 3:2 … and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith.
Psalm 81:1 — Sing for joy to God our strength; Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will extol Him.
The Lord is truly my strength. I could not continue a day without prayer, without asking the Lord to help me, without asking for the intercession necessary to do what needs to be done each day! It is important that we feel the hope that is in Christ that no matter what we are up against, we can pray to the Lord and He will hear us. Our prayers do not go on deaf ears. We must continue to persevere and continue onward.
Obstacles will happen every day – as the saying goes, we can count on two things, death and taxes. Well, we can also count on the things that will go wrong each day. But again – the idea of only having one life to live is having a great impact on me and I hope with you as well.
We only have one life to live how do you want to live it?
- What is your legacy?
- What do you want to be remembered for? What you did? Or who you loved?
- Where do you want to go when you die? (Yes, we have a choice.)
I want to encourage you to become equipped — to be ready for those times when all you can do is shout, “Dear Lord, help me!” And the way to become equipped is to draw from your faith–if you don’t have faith, ask the Lord for an infilling of His Holy Spirit upon you, and we will pray specifically for this in just a few minutes. We each have, all of us, the opportunity each day to encourage those around us, to smile at those we meet, to share the good news with each other. We need to stop and think, is this something that I should do or is this something that God would be proud of me for doing? The idea here is to go to the Lord in prayer for things we want to do or think we should do.
Additionally planning your day is important. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt let down by the day I’ve spent. We need to focus forward. Focus on the
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