What Are We Working For?
Last time you heard from me I shared with you the pain of waiting as well as the new perspective of its inherent goodness that comes if God and His plan is what you’re waiting for. Since then, several things have taken place that appear to show that certain aspects of my waiting are coming to an end. I see this as a gracious gift from my God in response to my freshly learned submission to the wait, which, mind you, was applied by Him in the first place!
I have had several individuals reach out to me to offer advice on how to best grow my personal organization. I have been given a potential opportunity for a local news story. A book by Zig Ziglar, Embrace The Struggle, which includes part of my story was featured on NBC’s The Blacklist as well. The third not directly involving me, but still serving as a significant, exciting milestone! I can’t help but feel as though the Lord is gradually bringing the pieces together to provide success for my mission!
Even more recently, yesterday I had a very encouraging encounter. I had the privilege of meeting and having a wonderful conversation with my favorite musician, Jon Foreman, most notably known for being the lead singer for the band Switchfoot! For quite some time I had been hoping to be able to meet him one day because of the inspiring role he and his music have played in my life. In fact, over the years, several opportunities for this to happen have fallen through by unfortunate circumstances (something that has been frustrating to say the least haha). While this particular incident doesn’t necessarily advance my mission, though it could, God willing, it still marks the fulfillment of an ongoing anticipation. Frustration of anticipations is just what had me discouraged not long ago, so I must conclude that this is a gift of blessing from God to lovingly prove his faithfulness toward me in my discouragement. It has certainly been uplifting to me; as though it is a confirmation of the lesson that waiting is beneficial and does, in fact, have an end!
Again, the progression I just described is as follows, by God’s grace, as I transitioned from disappointment at waiting to submissive acceptance, even gladness, toward it, He responded in further graciousness by providing multiple examples of meeting my worries, almost as a reward for my growth, which He, Himself, nurtured. This adds real joy to my spirit because throughout the Bible the Heavenly Father consistently operates with His people in this way! In order for an individual to experience the advancement of their spiritual role there must be growth. And without growth in a weak area, there can be no advancement. In God’s economy, when it comes to one’s purpose, the two must accompany each other.
We see this with the patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. We see this with the Hebrews of the exodus; Moses, Joshua, Caleb, and the transition of generations. We see this with the Judges, like Gideon and Samson. We see this in the direction of the prophets. We see it in the reign of the Kingdom(s) of Israel, most notably in David and Solomon. We see it throughout the ages of the Jewish exiles in too many cases to count, including a long period where not much is recorded in scripture. We see it in those who were involved at the birth of Jesus, first in Mary and Joseph. We observe it, free from sin, in Jesus as well. We’ve even seen it in the disciples of Christ down through the ages. To see the same in my life, as well as yours, puts us in good company!
In light of these truths I think we need to ask this question though: What are we working for? Do we seek the advancement of “our mission” in order to achieve our personal goals or His eternal goals? Are we seeking to maximize our influence or our impact? To focus more on influence is to unintentionally forfeit real impact. To focus more on impact will naturally translate to God-given influence. This is what it looks like to “find favor in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:4)!
I say these things because the growth of the Kingdom of God, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is far more countercultural to our society than we would like to admit. I believe Christian life has become erroneously in lock-step with the processional style of corporate America and worldly politics. We see it in members of the faith accepting the cultural norm of conventional wisdom that is rooted in man’s selfishness, and widespread failure to challenge the system of climbing the social ladder because they find it either unnecessary or impossible to change. We also see it in church leadership where some adopt the corporate operating model and political posturing as the best ways to create and measure success. Instead of falling in line, shouldn’t followers of Christ be offering an alternative business-life model that is both behaviorally AND strategically different? The world isn’t convinced of our beliefs because we don’t take our beliefs all the way to their ultimate conclusions in our actions!
I choose to kick against the model of determining who my competitors are and how to outperform them. Instead, I want to view no one as my competitor, seeking the betterment of everyone through partnering as much as possible! I choose to kick against the idea of glossing over or covering mistakes, even innocent ones, in order to maintain an image. Instead, I want to be as honest and transparent as humanly possible, as often as possible! I choose to kick against the concept of growing my exposure in inorganic ways, no matter how minor the questionability of a method is. Instead, I want to mainly rely on the organic development of real relationships for that growth in exposure. I believe we need to break the cycle of platform obsession, in order to accomplish true compassion for people!
Perhaps our inability to submit to waiting periods, something essential to real spiritual development, is what has resulted in our failure to offer another way. A little more patience is required if we want to do things in a truly God honoring way.
