Life Lessons: Four of Ten – Eat the Frog.

May 7, 2025

A ceramic frog sits on my desk as a daily reminder of an important life principle. My wife gave it to me sometime around my retirement because she knew I tended to put off doing things I didn’t want to do. This frog replaced a smaller plastic one that sat in front of me during my office days.

This frog represents Mark Twain’s wisdom: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”

Life Lessons: Four of Ten – Eat the Frog. #hope #joy #writingcommunity Share on X

Experience has taught me that tackling unpleasant tasks early dramatically improves my day. Rather than letting difficult tasks loom over me, addressing them promptly lifts the burden.

Makes sense doesn’t it? We often get wrapped up in our own heads worrying about having to do something we don’t want to do. We put off the task and eventually it seems like the weight of procrastination is heavier than actually doing what we know we need to do.

Maybe it’s something as simple as calling someone with bad news. We might not want what comes along with that phone call. There could be confrontation, hard feelings, disappointment, or any other number of difficult experiences. So, we tell ourselves we’ll do it later. Meanwhile, the situation hasn’t changed. And more often than not, the situation gets worse as time passes.

Could be you’ve had this feeling that things just aren’t right with your body. You know the best thing to do is call the doctor, but you’re afraid of what you may hear. I’ve learned that making that call both early in my sickness, and even early in the day, is almost always better.

This principle extends to spiritual promptings as well. My experience is that many times God’s leading in my life is pretty subtle. There are no billboards, flashing lights, or audible voices directing me. There are more instances of becoming aware of available opportunities, suggestions by friends, or what I would call heart impressions by the Holy Spirit.

The heart impressions are the toughest to describe. Sometimes I get this impression that the Holy Spirit wants me to say or do something. When I sense these impressions, I test them against Scripture.

I ask myself questions like… Does it honor God? Help someone? Show Christ’s love? Foster spiritual growth?

It’s really as simple as making sure I am not doing what I’m considering for the wrong reasons. If it appears to be the right thing to do, for the right reasons, I try to act on it as soon as practical.

Consider Abraham in the Old Testament as an example. In Genesis, God gave Abram (later renamed Abraham in Genesis 17) directions.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3, ESV)

Now, I’m not sure exactly how God spoke to Abram. But similar to my assessing a heart impression for alignment with God’s will, Abraham knew God was telling him to do something.

The next verse tells us…

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:4)

Abram’s faith, and resulting action based on that faith, allowed him to be a part of God’s plan for the world. He trusted God. You and I can do the same thing. When we become aware of God calling us to do something, we should, in a sense, Eat the Frog. Not that God’s calling might be something we dread doing, but acting becuase we know it is best if we obey earlier rather than later.

We can trust that God will enable us to do what He calls us to do if we do it when He calls us.

I’ll wrap up by sharing what Paul tells us in Romans about Abraham’s faith.

“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4:20-21)

God will do the same for us!