“I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” ~ Luke 15:16
REFERENCE:
No matter where you are in life or how bad your situation is, there is a place called better, and it is possible to end better than you started. The prodigal son found himself in a rut; his life was worse than it was in his father’s house, and he was far from the future he had hoped for when he left home. However, he decided to take steps that made his life and his end better. You can, too.
To move to better, the prodigal son engaged in strategic thinking. A strategy is a plan that gives you a competitive advantage. Ask questions that can move you towards better: why, where, who, what, and when? Why am I here? What can I do differently? What opportunities can I leverage? Who are the people that can help? Where are they? Beyond asking these tough questions, the prodigal son developed a plan. Here are some items on his “Taking Steps to Better” list.
1. I Will Arise: I will not continue to sit and excuse failure. No more pity party, I will arise! There may be obstacles and my goal may be scary, but I will arise. I’ve been in this mess for a long time and blew my chances, but I will arise. My mismanagement grounded me, but I will arise. I choose to arise! I have decided. ‘I will arise,’ rather than stay here and starve.”
2. I Will Go: He must have said: I cut off from friends who drained me, employers who tried to degrade me, and the pigs who attempted to define me. I may be in a faraway country now, but I will go. My journey to better may still be some distance, but I will go. I will move towards my dreams; I may be rejected, but I will arise and go. I will take action.
3. I Will Say: What are you saying? What did you start saying before now that you stopped saying? What will you be saying now? Is your mouth in agreement with your heart? Are you saying where you are going to or what you are going through? Have you thought about your vocabulary and the right things you will continually say and confess over your life henceforth?
Our lives are an aggregate of what we said we would do and what we did or didn’t do. Taking steps to be better means you are ready to give critical thought and take action. As you take steps towards being better, may you experience tangible transformation and exponential growth.
PHOTO QUOTE
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
II Kings 7:3-8 and Proverbs 21:5
TO DO:
+ Pause to think about where you are in different areas of your life. Take out a jotter and write three things to do that can move you towards becoming better. Put an action plan – a date to begin acting on what you wrote.
