Restart Smart This Fall
Are you today where you hoped your life would be? Have your New Year’s resolutions stuck or do you feel stuck? No matter who you are, it’s easy to say this year has been full of ups and downs with fits and starts, vacations, detours, and setbacks.
After the irregularity of the summer, the fall comes brimming with opportunity. It’s time to start over. And wouldn’t it be great if someone had that perfect advice that could get you set off on the right foot? Don’t you wish there was an Amazon or Yelp review from someone who’s been where you’re going? Wouldn’t it be helpful if someone could better guide you toward a smart restart?
No matter who you are, if you want to grow, if you want to get better at life, then you’re hungry for practical advice. The real surprise, though, is that what we need more than advice—no matter how practical—is wisdom.
And we need wisdom that’s not limited to recent experience from a few smart folks, but we need time-tested wisdom anchored in God Himself that has helped countless men and women of faith restart smart and go the distance.
This fall we will be resetting our lives with the ancient wisdom of Proverbs. And to be clear, this isn’t another “self-help” seminar with Bible verses tacked on for credibility. Proverbs is God graciously revealing His design and inviting us to walk with Him. And when we do that, we come to see that wisdom doesn’t just promise results, it’s just plain smart.
Now if you want to get the most of our restart this fall, here are three things you can do to start your restart…smart:
Make Sunday church gatherings a priority. The reason the fall is such a great opportunity to restart smart is because everything restarts. Sports, school, and well…life…restarts with its demands and opportunities. One of the greatest temptations, one of the easiest compromises to a smart restart is to let these other good things replace the priority of the Sunday church gathering. There have been a lot of programs and initiatives that have taken place in the church throughout history, but gathering together on Sundays every week has been a constant priority for over 2,000 years (Hebrews 10:24-25). There’s a reason for this. Make it a priority if you want to restart smart.
Don’t just listen to sermons. Apply. In other words, don’t just nod your head. Move your hands. Take notes. Do the difficult work of learning how God’s wisdom shapes your everyday rhythms, work on Monday, and weekend rest (James 1:22). Commit now to let this wisdom dig deep and rummage around if you want to restart smart.
Talk about this in a smaller community. You can never restart with success alone. We don’t learn best alone. We don’t follow through best on our own. And we don’t set knew life-giving habits best on our own. Instead, invite and empower other people to help you go deeper (Galatians 6:1-2). We’ll be talking through these passages in greater depth in our Community Groups with guided questions. You’ll never go as deep alone as you could with others. Let others in on this if you want to restart smart.
Are you ready for a restart? Are you ready for more than advice but wisdom? Now’s your chance!