Take Five

Have you ever stood in your closet for much longer than was necessary trying to decide what to wear? Sadly, I have. 

Have you ever fretted over a bad decision and let it ruin your day?  Sadly, I have.

Have you ever said something and the moment the words slipped through your lips you immediately wished you had never spoken them?  Sadly, I have.

Too many times I have let something minor that seemed earth-shattering and life-defining at the moment become way bigger in my mind and emotions than I should have.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says to those listening that they shouldn’t let temporary issues cloud what really matters.  In fact, He says that all our worrying cannot even add a single moment to our lives and so it is pointless to let a molehill turn into a mountain in our minds.

So here’s my recommendation for you… and me… and all the others out there who struggle to keep life in its proper perspective on occasion… Take five.  Ask yourself…

– Will this really matter five minutes from now?

– How about five hours from now?

– Will I be concerned about this five days from now?

– Will this bother me five weeks from now?

– Is anyone at all going to care that this happened five months from now?

– Will I or anyone else even remember this five years from now?

– Will this have had any significant bearing on my life five decades from now?

– And lastly, five hundred years from now, when I am long gone and I have passed on into eternity, will this choice… this instance… this incident… this action… have made any difference… made any eternal impact on mine or anyone else’s soul forever?

Most of the time, when I practice taking five, I don’t get past five hours or five days before I realize that many things I think are such a big deal at the moment are truly trivial.  In fact, I was looking at old family photos recently and things that seemed like larger than life issues then, I had completely forgotten about now…. some of those less than five years ago.

So let’s take five when we get uptight.  Let’s take five when our heart is broken.  Let’s take five when we don’t get our way.  Let’s take five and get a little perspective… which just might help turn the situation around and respond more appropriately to it.

Author: Allen Chapin

- Christian, husband, dad, friend, leader, author and speaker - Life Purpose = Love & Encourage, Offering Grace & Hope - Life Motto = Living for the applause of nail-scarred hands - Life Verse = Matthew 25:21 View all posts by Allen Chapin