The dreaded EVALUATION...

This week's memory verse:
"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

Evaluations...performance reviews...assessments...to many of us, these are negative words...when we are the ones being evaluated, reviewed or assessed. And, I can tell you as someone who has to write employee evaluations, and has given tests and assessments...they are not fun from the other end either.

When did wanting to know how to do better, be better and improve yourself become a negative thing? I suppose we all think we are doing enough...we are good enough...we don't like to think that we need to do MORE! We want to think that we are doing the best we can do and that should be good enough.

But...even though it's hard...I can see the value in stepping back from time to time and evaluating what we are doing, how we are doing it, and perhaps really thinking about how we could IMPROVE. If we didn't do this from time to time, how could we possibly ever move forward? 

My First Place 4 Health books are always wanting us to stop from time to time and think about the goals we set in the beginning. We are encouraged to THINK about how we are doing toward reaching those goals. If we reached them...how can we set new goals that will keep us moving? If we didn't reach them, what must we start to do or continue to do to achieve success?

This is HARD WORK, and often times, especially when the goals haven't been met, we begin feeling bad about ourselves.

Ahhhhhh...there it is....the reason we don't like evaluations...they can make us feel bad about ourselves! Reaching goals, being a better or more productive employee, being a better student, being a better friend, being a better servant to God...those things take hard work! They are not easy. We can easily grow tired of trying to improve...we grow weary and think that changing is too hard.

THOSE are the moments we need to remember we have a loving and forgiving God on our side! He knows and understands how hard it is to change and work toward goals. But if we remember to turn to him, reach out to him for help, to HOPE in his help...then our energy can be renewed...we can begin again and not grow weary and faint as we keep going...keep trying. One day we WILL reach our goals...we WILL be a better employee or a better student, and we WILL be in heaven!

Don't fear or dread evaluations...don't forget to stop from time to time and think about where it is you want to go and what you need to do to get there. Evaluating your steps, AND keeping God there with you, will help you get to where you want to be!