My life has been a journey full of twists & turns, highs & lows. Honestly, I'm not sure I could really define where I'm headed. But one thing I'm learning, the journey isn't all about the final destination but more about how we travel. And fulfillment is found in all that we learn & experience as we journey, not just getting to the end of it. I can't even imagine making mine without Christ before me, behind me, and beside me...

Sunday, February 13, 2011

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Birds have nests, foxes have dens but the hope of the whole world rests on the shoulders of a homeless man...You had the shoulders of a homeless man. And the world can't stand what it can't own, and it can't own You 'cause You did not have a home..."    
--Rich Mullins, "You Did Not Have a Home," 1998 Liturgy Legacy Music/Word Music ASCAP


      We were asked, "How can you help people succeed?" My first thought is that someone else's success is not up to me...And it isn't, but I believe that the greatest gift we can give is "what we give to another's soul" (in the words of Chad). I can't do much on my own but God can use me to encourage and empower others. So if I wrapped that gift up and tied it with a bow, what would it look like?
     First, I have to determine what "success" really is. The dictionary says it means "to thrive, prosper, grow...to accomplish what is attempted or intended." The world often measures success by our bank accounts, the size of our houses or cars, the pedigree at the end of our name,or even our beauty or physical appearance. Yet God measures by a different standard. When Samuel was to anoint a king, God said to him, "Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:6-8 NASB)
     God measures "success" by the size of our hearts. He doesn't require wealth, beauty, talent, or degrees in order to give us a purpose. I reach out to women who have been wounded and scarred by the circumstances of life, many who think their lives have failed because of their circumstances. Sometimes it's as if they think their lives are over before they have even started. Lofty goals of the world view wealth, position, degrees and beauty seem unattainable and impossible. Life has dealt them a raw hand, and they often come in believing they are worthless because they see themselves from the outside looking in rather than from the inside out. And it's true...Success--by the world's standard--doesn't often come their way. But God says ALL things are possible through HIm. And He calls me to be an encourager...to see others as He sees them and love as He loves. And to love them is to give them my best--the only thing I have to offer: Jesus. 
     The first thing I can do is to tell them His story. He was nothing in the eyes of the world. He had no home, no money, no pedigree...He was hated and rejected by the world, denied by those who had sworn allegiance. He died the death of the worst criminal yet He changed the world for eternity. Because of Him and WITH Him, each one of us can change the world.
     Next, I can tell them my story and live out by example the grace Christ has so freely given me. There is hope and strength in knowing that we don't walk alone..that another has walked this way before, who knows the pitfalls, and has overcome the mountains that stand in the way. "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. . . A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer. Three are even better for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 NLT)
     Finally, I can encourage, motivate, build up, and empower others by drawing them nearer to Christ and encircling them with the support of those who know and understand their hearts and their hurts. I can be real and present in their lives--not living life or directing it for them but pointing them to Christ by speaking truth and love amid all the excuses and lies. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV)
     I can't do the work for another. I don't have a magic formula for success. All I can do is give them what I have--what is most precious to me. And all I have to give is Jesus. As they begin to know Him, they become like Him...And that is where real success begins.
It was said this man was of no reputation, yet He could stop the rising storm with a gesture of His hand. But He chose to use His hands to heal hearts of darkness, hearts of stone--just like mine would be revealed.

He was a man of no reputation and by the wise, considered a fool when He spoke about faith and forgiveness in a time when the strongest arms ruled. But this man of no reputation loved the weak with relentless affection, and He loved all those poor in spirit just as they were.

He was a man of no reputation. It was said this man brought only confusion that He'd achieve His ends by any means and the truth that it brings revolution. And for once they were right--the truth set us free. The hearts of the captive were His only concern and the powerful knew their days were ending. 


He was a man of no reputation and by the wise, considered a fool when He spoke about faith and forgiveness in a time when the strongest arms ruled. But this man of no reputation loved the weak with relentless affection, and He loved all those poor in spirit just as they were. He was a man of no reputation.


One day soon the gates of heaven will open wide, and the Prince of Peace will come back for His bride. But for now we live on these streets forbidding and tough, where push always comes to shove and it's said love's never enough, where a prophet in rags gives hope to a fearful world. No injustice, no heart of darkness will keep this voice from being heard.


He was a man of no reputation and by the wise, considered a fool when He spoke about faith and forgiveness in a time when the strongest arms ruled. But this man of no reputation loves us all with relentless affection, and He loves all those poor in spirit. Come as you are to the Man of no reputation.

--Rick Elias, "Man of No Reputation," 1998
                                                             

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