I’m sure that, through the years of your life, you have looked forward to something. Graduation? College? Maybe your wedding day, or the birth of your first child. We all could make a list of things that we have anticipated in our lives.

How would you characterize “anticipation”? Here’s how the Apostle Paul saw it: “…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3.13b-14 NASB). If there’s one thing that I want to get across to you in this blog it is the idea of pressing on as opposed to sitting and waiting.

The very word “anticipation” conveys a sort of enthusiasm for what is to come. My most recent example is completing the book What Fills Your Heart: How the Condition of Your Heart Shapes Your Life. I look forward to getting the final formatting done so that we can make it available. But the point here is that, as I anticipated the book’s completion, I didn’t sit back and hope that the book would write itself. No artificial intelligence writing a book for me! So much of the satisfaction and anticipation for me is in the working to bring it to completion and having the final product in my hands.

What about you? What do you anticipate? Is it the final day of a project? Is it the award ceremony that recognizes a job well done? And are you “pressing on” toward it’s completion, or allowing apathy to overcome your motivation? I want you to recognize the satisfaction of a job-well-done, of putting in the work to see it into it’s final phase. Make anticipation a motivator, not leaving you on the sidelines.

Another way to look at this is to recognize the reward that comes from the effort that you put in. It isn’t uncommon for someone to look at their work and call it “their baby”. Like someone who restores a classic 1967 Pontiac GTO (my favorite classic car!). He will look at the finished project and call it his “baby” because he brought it to completion; he put in the time and effort; he paid the bills; he made the decisions. You can apply this to whatever project you have on your to-do list. But only if you do the to-do!

I know that anticipation can involve times and dates that we have nothing to do with, like Christmas. There will always be aspects of life that we look forward to but which we had nothing to do with. I get it. But what I want to you understand is that the things that we are actually involved in are worth the effort to make them happen. Yes, anticipate Christmas. Sure, anticipate your birthday. But even more, anticipate the completion of something that required something of yourself to see finished.

One last thing: there will be times when you put in lots of effort and there is little or no return for your work. This is especially true in relationships. There may be someone with whom you have gotten crossways. You can seek reconciliation and work to restore the relationship, but if they turn their back on you, then there is little that you can do to change their mind. Be sure of this: I want you to anticipate hearing these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant”. Who will say this? Jesus will say this to His people who have been godly and sought restoration even if it wasn’t happening. Always show grace. Always be loving. Don’t be the reason the relationship fails. Show by your actions that you anticipate reconciliation, even if it never comes about.

Put yourself into something. It might even be self-improvement. For help with any, or all, of this you can contact me with the info below. Now…get started!

Chuck Phillips

Life Choices Christian Counseling,LLC

Licensed Christian Pastoral Counselor, N.C.C.A.

Board Certified Professional Life Coach, I.B.C.C.

LifeChoicesCLC.Com LifeChoicesCLC@gmail.com

573-280-5093