POWER MADE PERFECT

MOST OF THE TIME I like to think about my strengths, not my weaknesses. Why not concentrate on the best part of me?

OF COURSE, when I do that, I may forget that I need to grow. How motivated am I to improve what I feel I’m already pretty good at?

THINKING OF MYSELF in only the best of terms won’t win me any points with friends either. Who wants to hear me brag? Most of them would rather I appreciate THEM instead of going on and on about myself.

ACTUALLY, MOST OF US connect in our mutual weaknesses. In fact more often than not, we compete when we have strengths in common.

WORST OF ALL, concentrating on my strengths makes me think I am self-sufficient. It puts me in danger of taking credit for what God has done—or of thinking I don’t need God’s help. Either of these can’t please Him.

THE OTHER DAY I browsed through the latest best-selling craze, THE SECRET. The author talked about how we were all magnets drawing to ourselves what we concentrate on. It’s an old idea. James Allen talked about it in AS A MAN THINKETH. He was right. Starting out the day with praise and a request for help gets my thinking on the right path, and that sort of thinking leads me where I need to go. My glass stays half full all day long.

BUT THE SECRET leads the reader to believe that he or she is entirely in charge of his or her own life. The reader needs to concentrate on his strengths and ignore his weaknesses. Just place the order, the author encourages, and the Universe will deliver. A new car. A yacht. A trip around the world. Santa Claus at his best. Never once does the author take into consideration what God may have planned.

IT’S AN ATTRACTIVE PHILOSOPHY—especially for those like me dealing with life-threatening diseases. All I need to do is keep the “good thought” and all will be well. The author even quotes the New Testament (although very briefly and very selectively) to back up her theory.

AND IF THE UNIVERSE DOESN’T DELIVER, why the onus is on me. I’m too doubtful or I’m concentrating on what I don’t want. Or I’m concentrating on my weaknesses. No matter the result I get, it’s a win-win for the author.

I’M NOT READY TO BUY. I know Who the Master of my universe is, and it isn’t me.

PAUL WAS A MAN WHO UNDERSTOOD the true nature of weakness. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 he said, “. . . power is made perfect in weakness.” Those weaknesses he boasts of made a space for Christ to dwell, and I like that. I’m more than ready to make room, and if weaknesses are the way to do that, I’ve got plenty of space available.

BUT, WHILE PAUL ACKNOWLEDGED his shortcomings, he didn’t concentrate on them. Quite the contrary. A thorough reading of Acts shows a man who literally dusts himself off (after being beaten and stoned) and continues on. Setbacks only increased his determination. And I have to think THAT pleases God.

I MAY NOT BELIEVE IN PLACING AN ORDER, but I do believe in dusting myself off. God will help me if I just get up.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

PLAN? WHAT PLAN?

I’VE OFTEN WONDERED WHAT GOD HAS PLANNED FOR ME. He’s not been all that willing to bring me into His secret. If there is a playbook, I haven’t found a way to open it . . . although I’ve prayed long and often to be enlightened. And now, in the midst of this stupid disease, I have to fight the despair of thinking it is too late by remembering that the plan, whatever it is, is not up to me. My job is to show up ready to participate.

OVER THE YEARS I’ve mistaken my own desires for His call several times.

IN COLLEGE I THOUGHT I was meant to bring order from chaos, and I became the best accountant I knew how to be. After twenty years, I gave in to frustration and took up financial planning. The second career fared no better than the first.

BEING AN IDEAL PARENT was as dismal a failure. If asked, my child and stepchildren would quickly point I made as many mistakes as anyone can.

LATER I HONED MY SKILLS as a writer, confident that MY message was important enough to gain the attention of the reading public. This proved false.

WITH EACH OF THESE I WAS CONFIDENT I had at last answered the call; I had been made privy to the plan. But, I was only listening to my own ego beckoning me to a course of action that it hoped would bring me recognition.

TODAY I SIMPLY SHOW UP and pray that God will use me as He sees fit. I measure success or failure in terms of how useful I’ve been. And, although I hate to admit this, it is the only time in my life I’ve felt job satisfaction.

BUT, I STILL DON’T HAVE A PLAN. I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do. God hasn’t let me know how I can please Him most. I’m in the dark, grateful to be useful when I am, happy to be part of whatever comes my way that needs doing.

IT’S A RUDDERLESS EXISTENCE—a bit hard for a Type A personality like me to swallow. But, it keeps my ego where it belongs and it keeps me on the watch for a chance to serve.

MAYBE THAT’S EXACTLY where a hard-charger like me needs to be. After all, if I knew what was in the playbook, as soon as it was opened I’m sure I’d begin lobbying to change it!

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

LIFE IN A PICKLE

MY FRIEND HAS AN EMPLOYEE with great potential, but who is, in a word, unreliable. When my friend speaks of this young woman, I can hear her pain. Employees like this are real heartbreakers. They bring to mind that old struggle between “can she?” and “will she?”

HER EMPLOYEE OBVIOUSLY CAN, but for some reason the desire and discipline to follow through are missing. It’s not just the office. The young woman has her whole life in a pickle.

I CAN RELATE TO BOTH my friend and the young woman. My earliest working days were awash in self pity. No job used the abilities that my imagination and my grades in school made me think I was entitled to. I didn’t think in terms of earning my stripes. I made sure I took every sick day I accrued. Vacations were taken as quickly as possible. I showed up for work sleepy and sometimes cranky from watching the late, late movie on TV. I warmed my chair, waiting for the ten o’clock break. And I never found pleasure in my work.

I WAS NOT ALONE. Most people work at jobs that bring them no joy.

SHOULD THEY QUIT and find something that brings them pleasure? There are probably no jobs that can do that . . . because most people don’t bring pleasure TO their jobs.

COLOSSIANS 3:23-24 PUTS IT SO WELL. When I accept a job, I need to put myself into it as done for the Lord . . . I serve Him. He’s in charge of my inheritance.

I HAVE THE CHOICE of being happy or unhappy with my work, and I bring that attitude with me. I was created to work—all of us are. Even Adam had a job in the Garden of Eden. No one can find joy without purpose.

AND THAT PURPOSE? Here again, the Bible is very clear. Our purpose is service. Once my friend’s employee begins to measure her day in those terms, she will automatically become reliable. She will know what she does is important—not just to those she helps—but to God.

UNTIL THEN, she will be unhappy and unreliable . . . and very likely unemployed.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

PORT NOW HAS A NEW MEANING

HOW I WISH that when I mention my port I were speaking of dusty kegs of fortified wine kept romantically in a damp cellar. But, that’s not the case. Instead I refer to a plastic central venous access inserted in my chest. For about sixty percent of cancer patients, a port is just one more indication of a life changed by disease. Countless blood draws, and, in some cases, infusions of healing medications (chemo) take their toll until an artificial means becomes necessary. That day arrived for me on February 15th of this year.

SURGERY IS NEEDED to insert a port. In my case I was sore, although not bruised, for nearly a month. Today I’m still aware of it, but I’m no longer dealing with it.

DEALING WITH IT is the right phrase. For me, the port seemed a major defeat. It was as though I’d finally succumbed to the cancer monster that took up residence in my body five years ago. I fought the idea, which had been suggested many times, until no other options were available.

LOOKING BACK, I really don’t understand my reluctance. Blood draws had become a painful process. Routinely I was stuck several times. Waiting made no sense.

BUT, THERE COMES A TIME in dealing with this crazy disease when logic, at least for me, doesn’t work. I’m not always capable of a rational decision. So I waited until the last possible moment.

HAVE I BEEN HAPPY with a port? Of course not. I’d rather not have my blood drawn with my arm over my head and my feet in the air. I’d rather avoid having the port cleaned every few weeks in a process that takes about two hours and can never be planned for. Oh, and did I mention there’s no money-back guarantee?

ACTUALLY, I’M FORTUNATE. The port can’t be seen (unless someone knows what to look for). I no long have the inner elbows of an addict. A lot of pain has been eliminated from my life. In short, I’ve been spared much of what was the norm for a cancer patient ten years ago.

MEDICAL SCIENCE has made great strides. God is working, as He so often does, through mankind, and I am privileged to enjoy the benefit. And you can be sure I know exactly where to lay the credit. Halleluiah.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!