It's Okay Now

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately… What if I lived my life as though I really did have influence? Here are four things that I think would be affected.

1. I would probably watch what I said. I might think there was weight to the words I send out into the atmosphere.
2. I would probably watch my actions.  I might take into serious consideration that everything that is permissible, may not be beneficial. If I believed I really had influence, I would probably err on the side of beneficial rather than just doing things because “I can”.
3. I would honor people and their accomplishments. Rather than allowing my own insecurity to discredit and critique others accomplishments, I’d honor everything that I saw them do and encourage them to pursue their dreams.
4. I wouldn’t gossip. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that there is no safe place for negative words or stories.  I’m convinced that a negative word has no safe place, but the right place. Any other place can be damaging.

So, let’s live our lives as though we have influence… because we do.  Will you join me?

What other areas do you think would be affected if we lived our lives as though we had influence?

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“Surely he couldn’t be serious.”

It was 1997 and I was in Guangzhou, China sitting across the table from one of the greatest men I have ever met. His name was Dr. Samuel Lamb and he was one of the leaders of the Chinese House Church Movement.   Dressed in the grey government-sanctioned clothing that was customary for the Chinese people during that time, he may have looked quite simple, yet the impact with which he had lived his life was unrivaled. As a young seventeen-year-old, I certainly never thought I’d hear all that I heard that day. With great conviction he spoke of his many years of ministry and of the persecution. He spoke in factual detail and without remorse.

The Strange Request

Dr. Lamb had begun preaching decades prior to our meeting. After preaching for a few years, he was arrested and put in jail for three years with the charge of disobeying the government’s rules concerning religion.  When he returned from prison in 1957 his congregation had exponentially increased in size to several hundred people.  In 1958 he was imprisoned for the second time, and this time for over 20 years.  When he was released to his church he found that there were now thousands in attendance.  After being jailed and released a third time, he saw once again that the church had grown in size.  When we visited him, his very small building had two stories and they were having multiple weekly services for around 4,000 people.

The growth of the church and the impact was amazing. However, it was Dr. Samuel Lamb’s strange request that caused my western mind to come to a halt…  Click here for the full blog on Destiny In Bloom.

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I’m not sure about you, but I tend to think on scales.  Go big or go home, right?  If you’re going to do something, make it memorable. If you’re organizing an event, make it as big as possible.  If you’re writing a card, make them cry. If you’re going to change something, change the world. Right?  Or not?

What if true significance is so much less (and actually much, much more) than that?

How do we know if what we are doing is significant?

This question has been one that I have labored over for years and years.  In fact, if you were to ask me how I would know if my life was significant, my answer would have something to do with something big and possibly flashy.

Maybe I was dead wrong.

Significance isn’t usually made in the flashy moments or the romantic moments.  Significance of life is birthed the minute your life was significant to another person’s life.  Arnita Taylor said that a couple months ago, and I haven’t been able to shake it.

My life was changed by…

• The person who listened to me when I lost my job.
• The person who told me what was True when I was afraid of everything.
• The person who opened their home to me when I had nowhere to live.
• The person (people) who spoke the right thing to me at the precise time I needed to hear it.

Those lives have been more significant to me than I could ever express.  Their contributions and love for me in my lowest moments… no one may never touch that place.  They may not be writing bestsellers, speaking to thousands, running corporations or countries, but in my life they have born more significance than any bestselling author will ever dream to.

Like Arnita said, if you’ve had one significant moment than your life has significance.Tweet

I just finished a book by Bill Hybels called Holy Discontent.  In the book he talks about the Popeye moment…

I ‘m not sure how many are familiar with Popeye, but one thing is for certain, Popeye has a serious thing for his Olive Oil.  Which as a side note is proof of two things: (1) beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and (2) you shouldn’t have to do a heck of a lot to attract the right person’s attention.

Downing the Spinach

In every cartoon there comes a point where Olive Oil is in danger and Popeye responds, “I can’t stands it. And I can’t stands it no more.” Then the infamous spinach can is produced and Popeye’s muscles bulge as he proceeds to save the day and the sweet love of his life. *moment of silence*

The thing that Bill Hybels talks about when he references this story is the “I can’t stands it” moment.  He poses the question, “What can’t you stand?” That question has haunted me for years as my heart aches for one thing or the other. I truly believe that we were all fashioned and formed for a particular purpose. Whether we are meant to raise a loving family full of little leaders with hearts to do good, or whether we are meant to walk along the ground of foreign soil, helping the poor, we all have something we were fashioned for. And when we are doing that thing, our hearts are alive and we can withstand the worst of circumstances.  The passion inside of us that aches for the mission before is what drives us.

Today, as I reflect on my Popeye moments I wrestle with all the things that I can’t stand, and I wonder how long it will be before I am chugging my own cans of spinach and moving forward.  I can’t stand the idea of children without the love of a mother and father, poverty and the sad truth that many that profess to be Christians have turned a blind eye to the need that we are called to care about.

Preparation – At least get out the can opener…

For today, I am in the right place, doing the right thing and hanging with the right people.  But while in a time of preparation where I am growing and learning all that I know God has purposed for me to learn, I choose to keep my heart tilted towards the things that “I can’t stands.” And at the moment when the timing is right and I have an open door to impact change in the areas where my heart aches, I’ll be ready and I’ll go.

Care to join me?

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