Not Beyond Our Reach…

We often think what we are going to do tomorrow, next week , next time, next season. We often plan; we often postpone. And sometimes, after postponing, we suddenly push ourselves at a fevered pace, and sometimes forget the effectiveness of quiet consistency.

With our human imperfections there will always be things we shall wish we had done differently, and always there are errors, and often we brood and blame ourselves for our failures. There are extremes in both directions: There are those who excuse and justify themselves too much, and those who blame themselves too much⎯and it isn’t always easy to know where to draw the line between the two. A conscientious concern for whatever is less than it ought to be is an admirable and essential quality of character, but there is also such a thing as destroying effectiveness by magnifying mistakes.

There is no perfection in any of us, but one of the most sincerely satisfying assurances of life comes with the awareness that what the Lord God expects of us is not really beyond reach: respect and honesty and honor, consideration for others, faith and work, doing and enduring, the keeping of the commandments⎯and with these the future will unfold, if not with perfection, at least with an inner peace and purpose and a settled assurance.

Repentance is indeed the great principle of progress. Without it life would be less than hopeful, and lacking in incentive for us all. But with all our errors and failures, with all our regrets and wishing we had done differently, there is always this sustaining fact for our peace and for our ever lasting purpose: that the Lord God loves us and knows us and our needs⎯and that what He expects of us is not beyond our reach.