Purpose

Defining the Race

Some people I know like to make comparisons (and predictions) about the trajectory God has for them:

  • “My mom had her kids by 30, so will I.”
  • “By the time that person was my age, they were already a vice president.”
  • “25 is the perfect age to get married, because that’s when all my friends did.”

It’s an intriguing thought process because we tend to be rather limited in what we compare. We pick one specific area and think that is the defining thing that determines how our life should also look. We rarely also want to take on the other person’s pains, trials, and inconveniences that may have led them to the point that they are at. We just want the outcome. And we judge the “quality” of our life, by the milestones that they’ve achieved.

However, our God is creative, and the same God who designs an unique sunset for every day, has a unique design for each of His children’s life. The overarching desire may be the same – that people would come to know and serve Him  – but the path that He prepares for us is as different as the snowflakes that fall from the sky. What He designs, what He engineers for one’s person’s life, is rarely the same as what He has planned for another.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us if we are a student of Scripture. After all, the way that God uses Moses, is very different from the way He used Joseph. The former He called away from prestige, the other He called to it. He called Hosea to marry a prostitute to demonstrate His love for His people; He called Isaiah to walk around naked to demonstrate the shame His people would experience for abandoning Him. Peter He called to the Jews, Paul to the Gentiles. Each was used by God, each in His own way.

So we have to ask ourselves, when we feel like we’re running behind – like other people have gotten ahead of us in life –  whose race are we running?

Are we trying to run their race or are we running the one that God has set out for us?

And what are we running towards?

The prize that they’ve achieved or the one that God has in store for us?

Because if we aren’t careful, we’ll find that we weren’t running after God at all, but just the good things that He provided, the things that He graciously gave to someone else.

And we’ll miss the race He’s marked for us.

 

Are you ever tempted to run somebody else’s race? What encourages you to keep running the race that God has designed for you?

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Purpose

Here to Serve

Since I live in Southern California, I get the opportunity to go to Disneyland frequently. Although there is assuredly much to be criticized about “The Happiest Place on Earth” one thing that they do exceptionally well is train their employees. The people who work there, Disney calls them “cast members,” are steeped into the Disney way of doing things. They are focused on creating a “magical” experience for their guests. For all the times I have been there, I can’t think of a single instance where a cast member was rude to me. It doesn’t matter if I’ve interrupted what they’re doing or even if there are many other people clamoring for their attention, they always stop to provide the requested help. Seemingly their focus in on making sure that my day at Disneyland is a good one.

Disney isn’t the only company with this intense preoccupation with service. Many other companies such as Nordstrom &  Apple are not content with simply selling customers a product.  They are fanatical about serving their customers with excellence. As a result many of these companies are among the most celebrated today. As a recent quote I saw on Twitter and attributed to Blake Nordstrom said, “”For 62 yrs, all we sold were shoes. Being on your knees fitting shoes teaches you servant leadership.” If you serve people well in humble, and sometimes humility ways, you’re bound to serve them well in all other ways too.

I was reminded of all this when recently, I thanked a young man at our church for filling in at the last minute, and he aptly replied “Here to serve.”  It was a poignant reminder of what our mindset as Christians should be. Just like the employees at Disneyland, Apple and Nordstrom view it as their job to provide exceptional service to those they encounter, so should our objective be as Christians. The only reason we remain on this Earth is to serve our Father here – and to do so by serving those that He created. Our focus then shouldn’t be on protecting our interests or staking or claim, just like the Disney cast members aren’t focused on simply getting their task done. Instead, we should have fanatical preoccupation with serving others. We should view our job as being “here to serve.”

This means that when we’re called to pinch hit, we don’t see it as an inconvenience but an opportunity. It means that we don’t look for a reason why we have to do something, but we proactively search for creative ways that we can improve somebody else’s day.  We’re doing our “job” when we’re serving someone else.  It is the reason why we’re here. It’s what we’ve been tasked to do.

After all, it’s what our Master was about and it’s our goal to live lives more like His.

 

Who is someone that you know that is “here to serve?” How do they demonstrate this commitment?

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