September Slump

3 Simple Steps to Surmounting the September Slump

3 Simple Steps to Surmounting the September Slump
by Stephen Sanders. A/V Editor at Salem Web Network

You observe days and months and seasons and years.
Galatians 4:10 (NASV)

Yeah, so it’s that time of year again... September. Or as I like to call it: the month where nothing happens.

Think about it. What happens in September?

OK… Labor Day and that’s pretty much it. Some of us get a paid holiday for Labor Day, which is awesome.

Well, that and some retail stores use Labor Day as an excuse to have “the best sale ever.”

But let’s face it… that’s the only 2 reasons why most of us even know that Labor Day exists. Other than that one meaningless holiday, September is easily the most uneventful month we have.

On the flip side, isn’t it ironic that one of the greatest dance songs ever is called “September?”  I mean nothing gets the party started like some Earth, Wind and Fire, am I right? They make September sound like so much fun! Magical even!

But they deceive us. September isn’t magical. It’s dull. And it’s right in the middle of this insane monotony that I begin to feel restless… like I need to do more with my life.

We’ve just gotten back from vacation. Summer is ending. The kids have just started a brand new school year. So naturally, it’s time to take things up a notch, right? Am I the only one?

“I should really read my Bible more.”

“ I should do _________ less frequently.”

“Christmas will be here before you know it.”

Usually, I have to admit, these feelings tend to overwhelm me a bit. But this year, I’ve decided to break the monotony of September by doing a few very basic things that, between you and me, I should be doing anyway:

1. Read a Proverb a Day: Yes, I know there are 31 Proverbs and only 30 days in September. We can blame September for that. Besides, most of the people who are reading or listening to this devotional are pretty familiar with most of Proverbs 31anyway. The point is: it’s an easy goal with a big payoff. Not only are the Proverbs applicable to our daily lives, they are quite challenging.

2. Start a Prayer List: It’s hard to deny the importance of praying for others. For one thing, it takes the focus off our problems. Secondly, you will discover that there is no shortage in the amount of prayer requests you will receive once you let people know you are starting a prayer list. You’ll find the key to this exercise is to, not only compile a prayer a list, but to also actually pray for people once you create it.

3. Random Acts of Kindness: I love this one for so many reasons. For one, it’s almost always something totally spontaneous. It can be as simple as picking up that piece of trash that you walk by or as complex as taking 30 minutes out of your day to be there for that annoying someone that you’d normally make excuses to avoid. Like the Proverbs challenge, you could settle for a “one a day” quota, but I usually find that once I get started it becomes quite contagious.

Intersecting Faith and Life: There you go. Three simple things you can do to feel like you aren’t being a slacker in September. All three take very little time and just a little stick-to-itiveness. And, most importantly, all three are sure to bring you closer to your beloved Creator.

For Further Study
>Proverbs 1:1