The Next Step

Do you ever struggle about your future; especially, as it relates to your call? Well, here’s a prayer that may help.  Repeat several times out loud several days a week.

 

I will be optimistic about my future because I know God wants the best for me. I will be an optimist about my future because I choose to be. I have the power to create my future. I can choose how hard to work, where I will live and who will be a part of my future.

I can be assured of what my future holds because I have the gift of memory; the memory of how God blessed me in the past and the assurance that God is with me now and will be with me in the future.

So even though I am now weary, filled with tears, I know that in the morning I will sing the pilgrim song of joy (Psalm 126:4-6, The Message) as God brings rain to my drought-stricken life… to a future life filled with laughter and armloads of blessing.

Amen.

The Beatitudes (You Are Blessed, vs 5)

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5, NIV).

 You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought (Matthew 5:5, The Message).

“Why can’t I look like that, talk like that, sing like that, be smart like that”?

We always discount who we are.  If we are not content with our own gifts—the ones that God has anointed us with–we cannot and will not be used by God to impact our world.

What are you good at? What are your strengths? What do you hear others say about you? What do you like to do; love to do? What doesn’t seem like a chore for you? Think for a moment; no, really reflect? What are you good at?

Those are your talents; the gifts God anointed you with. Cultivate them; try to find ways you can use them and yes, maybe make a little money as well.

We need not covet another person’s gifts, talents or looks; we just need to cultivate and appreciate the ones that God has given us. Don’t doubt yourself, you are unique; your talents are your gifts to the world.

So don’t forget, God has blessed you and God wants you to use your unique talents to bless the world. In other words, like Oscar Wilde said, ‘be yourself, everyone else is already taken”.

 

 

Just Believe

While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jarius, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?’’ Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:35-36. 

This scripture brought to my remembrance the struggle I had trying to define leadership. I wanted leadership to be more than just a word; I wanted and needed the word, leadership, to be an ongoing living and active statement. Then I realized that leadership is about faith; it is about not limiting your possibilities to the visible. It is about drowning out the noise and believing that there’s more to life than what meets the eyes. Then it came to me: “Leadership is unlimited when you believe in something bigger than yourself.”

What is your definition of Leadership?

The Pity Party

God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? Psalm 62:1.

I had a pity party yesterday. I felt sorry for myself. Nothing is going as planned. Why should I an innocent, suffer? What is this all about? God, are you teaching me to be patient? Is there’s something better, as we like to say to cheer ourselves, or is this just life; and bad things happen to good people.

I hope not. I have seen bad things happen to good people. It is not pretty and it is not fair. My friends and my colleagues feel my pain too.  But soon they will forget. They have to forget, and life for them will go on as before. But the ones that suffer—suffer still.

Richard H. Schmidt writes: “When we let our happiness depend on some future event, often something unlikely to happen and perhaps something that wouldn’t be best for us anyway, our waiting becomes tense and anxious. The key to waiting contentedly is to focus upon God.”* God, I am definitely focused on you-‘yeah right!’

Max Lucado writes: “(God) said no to good things so (God) could say yes to the right thing….”** I am wondering what that right thing is for me? You have been there too, huh.  

God, I had a pity party yesterday and I want to have another one today. But you know what; I will fight this ‘poor me’ syndrome. I am better than this. I have choices. I choose to embrace the positive and even find good in this bad. This is what I know:

  • God alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:2.
  • For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11.

So God, I am reminded that I am on a journey. This wonderful journey; a journey that requires me to be attuned to every facet of my life; an opportunity to yearn and learn, to dream the impossible; an opportunity to re-think my direction, but more than anything; to trust you, to put my faith into action, to live out Psalm 23:1: “you are my shepherd and I have everything I need.”

Who needs a pity party?

================================================== 

*Richard H. Schmidt. Praises Prayers & Curses Conversations with the Psalms. 2005, p. 123.

**Max Lucado. Cure for the Common Life. 2005, p. 106.

Not a New Thing, But the Next Thing

In my church last week, the congregation tearfully said good-bye to two friends who had been dedicated and committed servants in our church. So as we said good bye to our faithful servants, it made me think about a recent sermon (http://www.stjohnsmcc.org/CityOnaHill/podcasts/512-sermon–if-god-says-its-okay-its-okay-1100.html) I heard, and I wondered; what will be the next thing in our departing friends’ lives.

Are you ready to answer that question for yourself? We traditionally said that God is going to do a new thing, but I am here to tell you that God is ready to do the next thing in your lives.

What is the next thing that God has for you? Oh, by the way, it may be new to you; but to God it is the next thing. So what’s the next thing for you?

  • To start that business you have dreamed about
  • To write that book or to start that special blog
  • To start that new job in a far away place
  • To be that special friend to someone who needs a confidant or to the one who is grieving
  • To take on a leadership role in your job, your neighborhood or your faith community, or
  • To move aside so someone new can lead in a new way, or
  • To take time for a little respite to rejuvenate and wait on for your new assignment.

If you still unsure just be patient, be confident in God’s timing. God will let you know; for “who knows whether you have come to your position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Yes, this may be your time, to do the unthinkable, to do the next thing God has ordained for you. So slow down; take a deep breath and get ready for the next thing.

Thoughts On Transforming Lives

To make a difference in people lives; to transform lives, you must not be fearful to lend a hand, to take risks. Remember that “The Lord is [your] shepherd; [you] shall not be in want” Psalm 23:1.

To make a difference in people lives; to transform lives, you must have patience. You must have patience in God’s timing. Patience gives time for preparation, learning in all forms and through all means, books, people and circumstances.

To make a difference in people lives; to transform lives, you must be assured of victory. “This is the victory that conquers the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4.

Faith is the key to transforming lives because God’s faith takes away our fear, it gives us patience, but above all it motivates us because God’s faith assures us the victory.