“Refuse to be average, let your heart soar as high as it will” Aiden Wilson Tozer
Often when people think of the word “average” they think of dull, boring, a square in a world of better shapes to fit in to. There are those who like being average because they feel comfortable or safe there. Others will do all they can to keep themselves from being the “average person.” One person’s definition of average varies a great deal from others.
Instead of staying in our comfort zone and accepting the fact that we are who we are we need to give ourselves permission to rise above being average. That it’s okay to let our hearts soar as high as it wants. We need to stop believing the lie Satan tries to tell us that we are stuck where we are.
The minute we are born we are set on the track of life to run a race. How we finish that race is up to us. We can go a little ways and quit or we can make up our minds to finish well. The choice is ours. God has given us the ability to soar, to mount up like eagles, to take flight and rise above. We come pre-equipped to be all we can be if we would only use what God has given us to do so.
What we need to be cautious of is where we are choosing to soar to and the reasons behind our desire to take flight. Is it because we want to be a part of a certain crowd, do things with only ourselves in mind, or are we wanting to develop and use the abilities God has blessed us with to glorify Him.
Don’t get down on yourself because you think they are just one of those “average” people, there’s nothing wrong with that. Indeed, what should bother us is if we are suppressing what should be soaring. Stomping out what should be growing. Taking ourselves out of the race before we even start to run let alone finish.
Too often we find comfort in the middle. In my younger years in school I was quite content to get average grades. After all, at least I wasn’t flunking. I may not have been where my two older sisters were at the top of their graduating class but I wasn’t at the bottom either shouldn’t that account for something? Looking back I can see that wasn’t the greatest of all attitudes. I soared in my studies as high as I allowed myself to and didn’t bother to apply any extra effort after that.
We need to apply ourselves as much as we possibly can. If average is as far as we can go with our best efforts then we need to be the best average person we can possibly be. But if we can go further, and most generally we can, we need to refuse to be the fence sitter, the lukewarm person in the middle and give ourselves permission to soar for Jesus.
Get in, get going, and get God. You’ll be surprised how far you can soar!
Often when people think of the word “average” they think of dull, boring, a square in a world of better shapes to fit in to. There are those who like being average because they feel comfortable or safe there. Others will do all they can to keep themselves from being the “average person.” One person’s definition of average varies a great deal from others.
Instead of staying in our comfort zone and accepting the fact that we are who we are we need to give ourselves permission to rise above being average. That it’s okay to let our hearts soar as high as it wants. We need to stop believing the lie Satan tries to tell us that we are stuck where we are.
The minute we are born we are set on the track of life to run a race. How we finish that race is up to us. We can go a little ways and quit or we can make up our minds to finish well. The choice is ours. God has given us the ability to soar, to mount up like eagles, to take flight and rise above. We come pre-equipped to be all we can be if we would only use what God has given us to do so.
What we need to be cautious of is where we are choosing to soar to and the reasons behind our desire to take flight. Is it because we want to be a part of a certain crowd, do things with only ourselves in mind, or are we wanting to develop and use the abilities God has blessed us with to glorify Him.
Don’t get down on yourself because you think they are just one of those “average” people, there’s nothing wrong with that. Indeed, what should bother us is if we are suppressing what should be soaring. Stomping out what should be growing. Taking ourselves out of the race before we even start to run let alone finish.
Too often we find comfort in the middle. In my younger years in school I was quite content to get average grades. After all, at least I wasn’t flunking. I may not have been where my two older sisters were at the top of their graduating class but I wasn’t at the bottom either shouldn’t that account for something? Looking back I can see that wasn’t the greatest of all attitudes. I soared in my studies as high as I allowed myself to and didn’t bother to apply any extra effort after that.
We need to apply ourselves as much as we possibly can. If average is as far as we can go with our best efforts then we need to be the best average person we can possibly be. But if we can go further, and most generally we can, we need to refuse to be the fence sitter, the lukewarm person in the middle and give ourselves permission to soar for Jesus.
Get in, get going, and get God. You’ll be surprised how far you can soar!
Our host today for this fine quote is Deborah on her blog Chocolate & Coffee get on over there and share with the group its fun. I’m not the average person; I always seem to be doing something outside the norm. Like today, I wrote on the wrong quote. I left it on my blogspot so if you want a little extra “In other words” to chew on. It’s called "Proceeding with faith."
6 comments:
Average and just settling are not options for us when we want to live lives that glorify God. Great post, Karen! You are so right that we shouldn't settle.
I like that you bring out the fact that we are pre-equipped to soar.
Very much like Romans 1 tells us: We are "without excuse." And those of us who understand this can NEVER settle for "average."
Good Thoughts!
Happy IOW Tuesday
~esthermay
Some terrific thoughts! I like how you titled this "permission to soar."
Well said, bless you.
We must be alike. We have the same design theme on our blogs and I actually was looking forward to writing on the Jim Morrison quote. I hadn't written it but had many thoughts as to the direction I would go. LOL.
But what you wrote about average was also good. How often do we hold ourselves back because of our comfort zones? It's when we allow God to work in and through us that we can really soar.
Loved your take on "average". Thank you so much for sharing today!
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