It's not about me

We seldom, if ever, have it all figured out. I was going along just fine, and then, slowly but surely, I felt squeezed out. The ones I had mentored and developed began to replace me, and I felt like a misfit. So I did the logical thing: I resigned. But my leader showed me that I had totally missed the point. I had done such a good job, in fact, that I was promoted from the guy who was performing the task to the guy who had become designated to support those who were performing the task. Once again I had to learn: It's not about me. Could it be that the less we fit in here--where we see, feel, here, touch, taste and smell--the more we fit in there--where the reward awaits those who have been faithful to the higher calling?

Planning

We've all heard it said: "Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans."

Ps. 33 says:
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever; the plans of His heart to all generations.

I can think of thousands of times my plans did not come to fruition; a handful of times they did. I didn't plan to marry the woman I married, have the children I have, have the business I have, have the friends I have, or live in the USA. But I'm blessed by the bigger, better plan that God has for me. I didn't plan to lose the business or the friends I've lost, nor did I plan for my children to move so far away from home, or for my country to stray so far from its founding values, but I'm blessed by the bigger, better plan.

So, why plan at all? Proverbs 21 says:
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

I did plan to get married, have children, have my own business, have friends, and use the freedom I have in USA to make a difference. Had I not, I would have missed many opportunities, and I would not have known how to adjust when I wasn't meeting my goals.

So, the misfit plans and rejoices when they come to fruition as well as when they don't because (s)he knows it's not over till it's over. And only God knows the beginning and the end.

Today, being Valentine's Day, I am compelled to write something about love. Just off the top of my head, I'd have to say that the woman I wed 29 years ago is more beautiful today than she was the day we married, and I love her more than ever. And here is the kicker: Wonder of wonders, I believe she feels the same about me. Whether I've written or sung a song, wrote a book, brokered a business deal, or told a joke, her response matters more to me than anyone else's. And I believe she looks to me more than anyone for her approval as well.

Love grows. Everything else dies. But love grows. Love doesn't stagnate or decline; it grows.

But Love dies for the one it loves.

Winners and Losers

Our natural tendency in a conflict is to plummet into a win/lose mode. We believe that in order to resolve the conflict to our satisfaction we must win and the other party must lose. The misfit simply wants to solve the problem. Whether the conflict begins with a critisism, accurate or inaccurate, and we defend ourselves and/or respond with a stronger reciprocal critisism, or whether in a business transaction we want to best the other party, we want to win at any cost. The misfit understands that a true or false accusation can be absorbed or rejected without further ado to no one's harm and in a business transaction both parties must feel like winners for the sake of productive future business dealings. Turning the other cheek is not the same as being a doormat.

What Price

Yesterday, I was sorely disappointed in a man whom I have highly respected. Because his ego was threatened he yielded to a temptation which will probably cost him is job if not his career. This morning, the day after, I am transitioning from disappointment to near-abject trepidation, for I too have a price for compromise. And I don't know what that price is. I only know that I will not be tempted beyond that which I am able to bear via the means of escape provided if I indeed choose the way of Truth.



How much would it take to misrepresent the value of a business in a sales transaction? How much much sexual gratification would it take to be unfaithful to a spouse? How desperately do I want to win a simple game of racquetball that I would not disclose a subtle double hit of the ball with my racquet? Whether the immediate payoff is big or small, we all have a price we may be willing to accept and one that we cannot decline. We will surely confront the former but never the latter. The misfit will leave his cloak in the arms of his temptress; thirty pieces of silver was enough for the betrayer of the ultimate Misfit, Who refused to compromise his very life, which He gave for all misfits for all eternity.



Lest we all despair, let us all remember this: No matter the price of our compromise, grace cost infinitely more and is worth infinitely more.

Talkin' to Myself

We talk to ourselves all day long in conscious thoughts and then again at night (or whenever we sleep) in subconscious thought--dreams. We plan for personal success, sometimes to the benefit of others, and too often, I fear, to the detriment of others. We think about how we can make life better for a loved one--or if we are really having a good day, an enemy--and our thoughts are pure, unjumbled. We think about how we can make our own lives better and we think right until an accusation rears its ugly head or someone else's welfare poses a barrier. Then we begin telling ourselves things that just aren't true.

The trouble really starts when we ask the wrong questions. And the worst one is, "Why?" That one usually assumes we didn't get what we deserve or we got what we don't deserve. I, for one, would be dead if either of those contingencies were true. Our default would be to ask, "How?" "Why" leads to blame, guilt, and punishment; "how" leads to resolution, hope and resurrection. "Why" is past and is over--doesn't exist; "How" is future and starts now--the only reality.

If I ask, "Why," and proceed down a trail of fantasy, I will certainly become lost. If I ask, "Why," and proceed down a trail of reality I am compelled to seek retribution, many times for myself, and that can be just as destructive. If, on the other hand, I ask, "How," I am compelled to seek a solution. (My personal solution is published in my first blog--"Ten Daily Declarations" of truth which remind me that what I'm saying to myself must be true).

Our Father, God, has provided us with the propitiation. He already knows why we lie to ourselves. Like Adam, when we fail, our tendency is to lie and blame someone. It's the human condition, and our Father remembers that we are made of dust. All we need to know is the solution--Jesus.

Being Special

When I was a child information was hard to come by. I remember an assignment in which I had to research a subject and all I had were the encyclopedias that my parents sacrificially bought for us. When I couldn't find the information I needed there, it was over. We lived in the country and the closest library was probably 45 minutes from home; besides it was probably closed by that time of night.

Nowadays, in order to find anything all you have to do is "google." On the other hand, in order to be found, you must be extremely special so that the seeker is targeting that "needle in the haystack." And, for the most part, being a misfit isn't enough; you'd need to be a misfit that is especially interesting.

I'm so glad our Father in heaven not only seeks misfits; he prefers misfits. And he is relentless in his pursuit of those he loves. Just ask Jonah. Just ask me.