It’s probably no surprise to anyone who knows me or follows my public musings that discipline is not one of my stronger gifts. I could fill this whole blog post with a list of things that I have remained disciplined in doing. My vertical time with God, blogging, keeping my workspace organized, and reading are just a few things that I have tried to remain disciplined at, but I have failed to do any of them consistently.
It’s not that I want to slack off and leave things unfinished, I just have a tendency to do so. I love getting projects started and finishing them strong, but my focus tends to drift in the middle where of projects when discipline is needed most.
My lack of discipline was quite obvious as I went through a life inventory with my mentor this week. Specifically looking at my schedule, the first thing that stood out was that I did not have any vertical time with God. Knowing that I am walking with God throughout the day but not devoting time to spend in devotion and prayer, he compared time with God to food (such a great analogy for me). When you get all of your food on the run, you are not going to get the nourishment that you need. When you spend the time to prepare a healthy meal, you get the nourishment you need without the garbage that you don’t, and you feel better too.
The same goes for time with God. When your time with Him is always on the go, your relationship with Him is not going to grow as it should because you are not getting the spiritual nourishment that you need. When you devote time to Him, you will begin to hear more clearly from Him and experience the spiritual fulfillment that you need.
So to work on my discipline, I have taken a thirty-day challenge to spend 30 minutes every morning and evening with God. I started last night and missed this morning, but I plan to get right back to it this evening. On top of this challenge, I thought of another way to help me build discipline in my life. I went the speed limit today. I know it’s hard to believe, and it was extremely difficult for me this morning on the highway, but I feel like this exercise in discipline will help develop discipline in other areas of my life as well.
There is one last thing that my mentor shared with me yesterday that I am leaning on. It was a quote from Jack Hayford about grace.
Grace is God’s ability to fulfill His will in your life.
I know that I struggle with discipline, and I know that it is required to be able to move forward from where I am. That’s where God’s grace steps in. He is the One who can fulfill his will in my life, not me. He can and will help me when I am struggling with discipline, especially if I am staying true to my commitment to spend time with Him.