The Spiritual Side of Success
I have a confession to make… everything that I have ever succeeded at in life, I have faked first. For everything that I have mastered, from public speaking to managing people, from writing a book, to being a parent, I have started out completely clueless and having no idea what I was doing!
This all started when I met one of my first bosses who suggested that I present a day long training workshop for the staff at the agency where I worked. I looked at her with stark terror in my eyes and told her with a trembling voice “I don’t know how to do that!” And she replied, “You will when you get done.”
Talk about “faking it till you make it”! That happened to be one of her favorite mottos, along with another gem: “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not trying hard enough.” The combination of these two statements sent me some powerful messages:
1) She had faith in me
2) It’s okay to mess up
3) The most important thing is just to keep on going until you get it right
Since that job I have spent my life setting goals that are just a bit beyond my capabilities, or at least what I thought were my capabilities, until I discovered otherwise. Whether the gap between what I think I can do and what I set my mind to do is narrow or wide, I have learned that I can count on the Lord to be there in that gap, and that is the spiritual side of success.
Jesus calls us out of the boat all of the time. He invites us to face our fears and hand over our limitations and weaknesses to him so that “in our weakness, his power will be made complete.” Fear is the number one faith crusher and a powerful tool that the devil uses to keep us from fulfilling our callings. Safety has never been the hallmark of a Christian life. Walking by faith requires us to take risks while keeping our eyes on Jesus.
I am not suggesting that you act in a reckless, imprudent or dishonest manner, but I am inviting you to stretch yourself beyond your current limits. I am asking you to question those limits and discern if they are self-imposed, a sign of laziness or a surrender to fear. Take those questions to prayer and ask the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. It’s time to get out of the wading pool of life and make your way to the deep end. You don’t know how, you say? Well, you will once you get there!