Sometimes the day just doesn't turn out the way I had envisioned. After 6:00 am prayer time with the guys, I figured on finalizing some lessons on the Apostles' Creed for some teaching I expect to be doing soon. I remember having preached on the Creed; I could even show you where on my office bookshelf sat the reference books I used in preparation. But do you think I could find the sermons themselves? They have seemingly entered another dimension. I don't lack for sermon notes; an entire box dating back to the early '80's documents every sermon I've preached for the past 32 years, or so I thought. The ones I wanted have vacated the premises, but it took me about four (futile) hours to find that out.
I suppose it was good training for the next mission trip. Whenever I've been overseas, the one thing I could always count on was that there was so precious little I could count on that the seat of my pants could qualify for frequent flier mileage. So after getting thoroughly disgusted with my total failure as an archivist, I decided to take a break and watch a video posted by a guy who does online bass instruction. He was comparing different kinds of strings, which I thought might be informative. The video itself was somewhat ho-hum, but he started it off by telling the camera about his crappy day. He admittedly didn't have much right to complain; he is in good health, has a wife and child he adores, comes home to hot and cold running water, and clothes to keep him warm. That being said, he noted that we all have days when things just don't go right, and when that happens, we need an attitude adjustment. So he played a short video of someone else talking about this very thing. Here's what the guy said:
"When things go wrong, we ask the wrong question. We ask, "How can I stay motivated when I don't even want to get out of bed? This isn't a matter of motivation," he said, "It's a matter of discipline. Sometimes you don't feel motivated, but discipline gets you going anyway. You don't need motivation; you need discipline."
I needed to hear that today. Things didn't go the way I had planned. So I have a choice; either to mope and gripe about it, or to pick up where I am and move on. I am grateful tonight for this video slap alongside the head; I never did find those notes, but I'm going to move on with what I have already put together and trust that God will use it in his way and time to accomplish his purposes. After all, Jesus didn't call us to be motivators, but disciples - disciplined followers of the Way of the Cross.
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