Watching Where You're Going

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12:1-2
One of the most valuable lessons I ever got was while learning to drive.  I was told, "Look where you want to go.  If you're watching the oncoming traffic, you'll drift into the oncoming lane.  If you're staring at the shoulder, you'll end up on the shoulder.  Instead look down the center of the lane you want to stay in, and you'll steer just where you want to go."
The same is true in our mental and spiritual lives.  When our focus is on others, we begin to judge them and perceive them as "good" or "bad".  When we focus on our own selves, we interpret the world around us in the way that (we think) the world relates to us, rather than in the way the world relates to God.  Either perspective is skewed; we are not walking in truth and the result is confusion, resentment, failure, and despair.
But when our focus is on Christ, our minds are renewed, our thinking transformed, and we are able to see ourselves and others as we really are: beloved creations of God, fallible, and either in need of, or having received, redemption.  Confusion, envy, hatred, and resentment become foreign and unnecessary.  Mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and patience become second nature, and truth becomes simple.  Not everyone is prepared to hear truth, but you have freedom to speak it and peace when you do.
When you're always watching Jesus, you start thinking like Him.  Soon you start talking like Him.  Then you start acting like Him.
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."  Romans 12:1-2

Scribbles and Shoestrings

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men," Colossians 3:23 (NAS)  Have you ever watched a preschooler learn to write her name or tie his shoes?  Those sweet tiny fingers fumble until the paper is filled with illegible doodles and the laces are tangled in a mess of knots.
You can't stand to watch the little one struggle so you offer to help.  Maybe the child even asks.  Sometimes the precious lambs will "try harder" while you attempt to guide them, until the paper is full of pencil-holes, the shoestring loops fall apart, and everyone is frustrated.  But sometimes the wee sprouts will relax those fingers and let you take control, and just feel what you're doing with the pencil or the strings.  You practice over and over until her name is legible and his sneakers stay laced and everybody feels triumphant.
God is right there with you, waiting to guide you.  You don't have to work harder to make His kingdom come.  Just pick up your tools and let Him guide your hands.  If you insist on trying in your own wisdom and your own strength, you are struggling against Him, and He will work around you instead of with you.  Working for the Lord doesn't mean doing God's work for Him.  It means letting Him work in you and through you.
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28 (NAS)
God doesn't need us to do His work for Him.  He gives us the privilege of being a part of the team that has already won, the story He has already written, the work He has already finished.