Start With What You Have, Not What You Don't Have

God has already given you what you need to begin to create your future. Yet most of us have found ourselves saying, "If only I had this...if only this were different...if only I had more money, then I could do what God wants me to do," all the while ignoring the seeds that God has planted within us.

People always overstate the importance of things they don't have. God will never ask you for something you can't give Him. He wants you to start with what He has given you.

Don't let what you cannot do keep you from doing what you can do. Prolonged idleness paralyzes initiative. To the vacillating mind, everything is impossible because it seems so. Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good—use ordinary situations. We don't need more strength, ability or greater opportunity. What we need is to use what we have.

"The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are," said John Burroughs. What you can do now is the only influence you have over your future. True greatness consists of being great in little things.

Don't grumble because you don't have what you want; be thankful you don't get what you deserve. "'We must do something' is a unanimous refrain. 'You begin' is the deadening reply," said Walter Dwight.

No person can ever be happy until he has learned to use what he has, and not worry over what he does not have. Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. Most people make the mistake of looking too far ahead for things close by.

You can never get much of anything done unless you go ahead and do it before you are ready. No one ever made a success of anything by first waiting until all conditions were "just right." The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 11:4 (LB), "If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done."

Don't waste time in doubts and fears about what you don't have; spend yourself in the task before you, knowing that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the years that follow it. "Grow where you are planted. Begin to weave, and God will give the thread," (German Proverb).