Life-Giving Words of Hope & Encouragement

I recently read a book entitled Golf’s Sacred Journey, and even if you don’t play the game of golf, this book had some great takeaways.  One principle that really stood out was that we all should find what we do really well and then prefect it.  This goes against the way we are wired and it is the exact opposite of what we are taught in school.  We are ingrained with the notion that we must be good at everything and that we should identify our weaknesses and turn them into strengths.  In school, it sounded good at the time, but I soon found this practice to be very counterproductive.  If God wanted us to all be the same, He would have made us all the same.  Instead, He made each of us unique, with our own strengths and interests.   When put together, all these pieces form the body of Christ: the Church.

Andy Stanley, in some of his leadership training, suggested that we should only work in our areas of strength and that we should delegate our weaknesses.  By doing this, it will make any team stronger by allowing people to flourish in their areas of expertise and would allow others to develop their gifts in other areas where they could shine.  Andy did make one important disclaimer; this methodology does not work at home!  If cleaning toilets is not one of your strengths, too bad.  At home, everyone should be helping around the house, no matter the dynamic.

Another interesting point the book made was that in life, we must be willing to coach and be coached; either one alone will leave us feeling empty inside.  If we are open to these opportunities, extraordinary relationships can be born in the most unexpected places.  If we can change the way we think, God can miraculously change our life.  If I have learned one thing in my walk with the Lord it is this: God is more interested in changing us than He is in changes our circumstances.  We must begin to realize that today is a new day and regardless of what we are dealing with, God can turn our stumbling blocks into stepping stones for promotions, breakthroughs or miracles.  Our God works by faith; He is El Shaddai – the God of more than enough.  Even when the world does not believe in you or your dream, it does not matter.  If it took others believing in your dreams to make them come true, we would all feel very worthless in our failures.  What matters is that you hold on a little longer and trust God to move in you, through you and in your circumstances.  That is the favor of God; if we do our part, God will most assuredly do His.