Do you ever make things harder than they are?

Maybe you don’t even realize it…but many times we make things way harder than they need to be. In fact, a majority of people take the path of most resistance, unknowingly. We tend to live like Watson in this interesting interaction…

Holmes and Watson are on a camping trip. In the middle of the night Holmes wakes up and gives Dr. Watson a nudge. “Watson” he says, “look up in the sky and tell me what you see.”
“I see millions of stars, Holmes,” says Watson.
“And what do you conclude from that, Watson?”
Watson thinks for a moment. “Well,” he says, “astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meterologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I see that God is all-powerful, and we are small and insignficant. Uh, what does it tell you, Holmes?”
“Watson, you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!”

Have you ever had a Watson moment? Those moments where you overthink, overanalyze, overestimate, and over-stress about something that was unnecessary to do so. I have heard it said that some people don’t just worry occasionally, they worry recreationally. If we can learn to live simpler, we can learn to live happier. It’s when we make things harder than they need to be that life becomes harder than it was meant to be.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  

Here are some areas we need to not make so hard…

1) Grace

God’s grace is bigger than your biggest failures. Don’t make His grace harder than it needs to be. When we beat ourselves up over our mistakes is when we open the door to discouragement. And discouragement literally “disses” our courage to move forward. We need to correct our mistakes and learn from them as to not be controlled by them, but we don’t need to wrap our identity in them. You may have failed but that doesn’t make you a failure, you may have messed up but that doesn’t make you a mess up, you may have wasted your past (or been wasted in the past), but that doesn’t make you a waste. God’s grace can cover even your greatest waste. Don’t make it hard…accept His forgiveness that He freely gives.

2) Serving

In my book LEADOLOGY I say this about serving…

“Don’t make it hard to be a servant. Don’t wait to do everything before you do something. If you wait to do something until you can do everything, you won’t do anything. It’s not always the big things that make the biggest difference. Sometimes it’s the small things that have the greatest impact. I have heard that little termites do more physical damage in a year’s time than all natural disasters combined. Small acts of kindness and service go a long way. Serving doesn’t have to be complicated or monumental; it just needs to be genuine.”

Be a servant and make in impact with your life. Everyday you have an opportunity to serve by who you are, what you have, and where you’re at.

3) Love

If you get so busy with life and all the duties that come with it you easily can forget what it’s all about in the first place. Life is too short to miss out on spending time with those you love and those who mean the most to you. When you are on your deathbed you won’t wish you spent more time in the office cleaning, or made a few more dollars, or cleaned up the kitchen better…you’ll have wanted to spent every moment with those you loved the most. Don’t live your whole life searching for something that was with you all along. Make the most of every moment to love everyone…but especially those who God has entrusted you with. Leave a legacy with your love.