A Place for All Women

Posts tagged ‘Success’

Coffee Connection

          The woman juggling two cups of coffee, while trying to wrangle a toddler out the door and back to the car, was way past caring about her appearance.  The faded blue sweat suit, picked and pulled by too many outings, was the least of her concerns.  She was jockeying for position with those dressed in business suits on manic missions of self-importance.  The coffee shop was all a flutter with a few retirees, talking way louder than they should, along with the teleporting career climbers, who were here to be seen more than they were in a hurry to be served.  They were purchasing the most expensive coffees and stopping to speak to all the right people.  A few loners straggled in looking less secure, and I guess this is the category into which I fit, or I doubt I would have been sitting there analyzing each person who walked through the door.

          A group of exercise singles made the grandest entrance as heads turned, eyes stared, and mouths dropped open.  These twenty-somethings looked fabulous.  The level of confidence, with which they carried themselves across the room and up to the counter, confirmed for everyone watching that they knew how good they looked.

          It was a room full of people and those not watching each other were all on mobile devices…talking…texting…surfing.  Everyone looked important.  And some even sounded important as they recognized one another and stood for an obligatory handshake or a shoulder touching hug. Of course, these connections lasted only until one of their mobile devices distracted them from the social encounter at hand.  Then, whoever was on the other end must have been really special, because the “in-person” connection was sacrificed – for the digital one.

          We all want a connection. We want to matter, to be important. We want acceptance.  We want a divine empowerment…an anointing to do the things we were placed on this earth to do.  But we look to other people to give us the “thumbs up” and confirm for us that they “like” the direction in which we are headed.

          Just last night, my son asked if his dad and I would be okay if he decided to become an agent for the FBI.  As a quick — “Oh my God, that would be dangerous” — thought flew through my mind, I smiled my best loving mama smile, and with a beating heart, said, “Certainly we would.”  Okay, maybe I’m not so certain, but I have a way of discouraging people from doing things I don’t want them to do.  So, for once, I thought it best to tame my tongue and let his mind go wherever God leads.  God has a plan and a purpose for my son’s life, as He does for all of us.  But while we are all out furiously searching for acceptance, approval and all the right relationships, God says simply, “Come to me.”  He has the answers, the solutions, even the formula for success.  We don’t have to have the latest cell phone to reach Him and he won’t stop talking to answer a text.

      

         

       

           Okay, this is where my husband and son might say, “Don’t listen to her.  She is always talking, texting, and on the computer.”  And, they are right.  But I’m usually preaching to myself when I’m writing to you.  So, to you and to me, let’s try to take some time this week just to sit in His presence.  Ask God what we should do next.  Ask Him where we should go, who we should see, what He has planned.  And then wait, watch and listen, to see what He tells us.  It will be far more valuable, far more insightful and far more tailor-made for our needs than any advice another person could give us.

          Author and teacher Beth Moore says in the study, “Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed”, that we can’t complete our calling on our own, it’s beyond our natural abilities.

          God is the one who has a plan for our lives and He alone has the blueprint for completion. 

Ask God for the kind of success that says to all those around you… 

 “It has to be HIM because, otherwise, there’s no explanation.”

 In 2 Samuel 7:8-9 

 God said to David,

“I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.”

 When I read that verse, it says to me that He can take us out of the most obscure place, teach us to quit following the people who are all just following each other, and do great things in our lives.

God’s blessings are not reserved for the men and women of the Bible, He has plenty of favor He wants to pour out on us!

He’s the ultimate connection and He’s the one we need.

🙂

© Copyright 2011, KeziahCarrie.  All Rights Reserved

Our “To-Do” List

          There is just something so sweetly satisfying about checking items off of a “to-do” list.  It feels like tangible accomplishment and visible success.  Sometimes I start my day with a “to-do” list that includes everything from Bible study to washing the breakfast dishes to taking out the trash.  Each check mark says to me “You did it!  You have achieved something today!”  But as I go through the motions, stimulating my own self importance with tiny little check marks, I still know this is not really what it’s all about.  No matter how many times I applaud myself for putting clean sheets on the beds, dusting the den furniture or vacuuming the entire house, it’s all just a meaningless chasing after the wind.  The dust will return, usually before the day is done, the dog hair will once again accumulate in the carpet and the sink will soon fill with dirty dinner dishes.

            So, I try to set my eyes on God’s “to-do” list.  And, while I don’t always get to mark off each milestone on a piece of notebook paper, I do try to take note of how he is using me.  Sometimes, it’s an email to a friend who is having a hard day at work.  Occasionally, a call comes in from another mother who needs me to pick her children up at school.  More often than not, my husband and I will confer on a work project, trying to decide if we believe it is what God wants, or if we’ve put too much ego in it and Edged God Out.

            All throughout our days, God is using us, partnering with us, and calling on us to help accomplish his purposes, his “to-do” list.  It might not always seem like we are doing something significant.  Some of the things we are asked to do may even be irritating and test our ability to spontaneously serve where we are needed.  But if we are yielded to God’s purposes for our lives, he will give us a “to-do” list, and he will equip us to accomplish it.  

          In a world where our lives can change in an instant,  what we do for God is what will last.        

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus

to do good works, which God prepared in advance

for us to do.” 

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

 

Can you pin point anything in your life lately that might have been on God’s “to-do” list instead of your own?

Do you find more satisfaction in accomplishing things for him than for yourself?

Sometimes it’s not whether or not God is working in our lives…but whether or not we recognize him.

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