Slow and steady progress leads to lasting change

As a young newlywed, my first home was a small basement apartment.

I had a secondhand double bed that someone had given my parents. The living room area was furnished with an old sectional couch with the midsection missing from it and some scratched up end table that I covered with tablecloths.

Then the day came to move to my first house. It was a small, two- bedroom structure that needed some work #8212; but it was affordable and I felt blessed with it. In a few more years, I progressed to a three-bedroom home with a full basement. I think you get the point here. Increase, oftentimes, comes little by little.

In the Old Testament, when the Israelites were on their way to the promised land, they faced many obstacles. They battled war, famine, and lack. But God instructed them that they could overcome their enemies #147;little by little.#148;

When we are first starting out on our own, setting up a household or building a business, poverty or lack may be some of those enemies we face.

Oftentimes, people want to start out big. Before long they find that making progress too fast has overstretched their budget and gotten them into overwhelming financial burdens, leaving them with too much month at the end of the money.

But the law of progress applies in this situation as well. Many times if they tighten their spending and stay determined to watch their budget, they can turn the enemy of debt around as well.

When I worked with patients who were dieting, trying to quit smoking, or working toward some other health goal, when changes were slow and steady they seemed to be more successful in the long run.

Whatever we are lacking, whether it be something spiritual, emotional or physical, applying God#146;s law of progress can bring increase to us in that area. Remembering that God#146;s law of progress means a little at a time can keep us from giving up and help us to overcome.

If you haven#146;t seen progress with that new year#146;s resolution #133; remember slow progress overcomes no progress.

Ÿ Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted by email at Annetteebudzban@aol.com.