Here is yet another piece of golden wisdom from Mark Hamby. I have had the pleasure to meet the man, and although very focused and not your "soft, sensitive" fellow, he follows the Lord completely and with such humbleness!! There is much to learn from a man of God like him and I hope you enjoy this tidbit of wealth from him as much as I. ~Rebecca
The Process
Today I was reading a devotional written by Oswald Chambers and it
smacked me right between the eyes. So if you don't like someone taking a swing
at you, you may not want to listen any further. If you can take it, then this is
what Chambers had to say:
"Often, Christians think that if Jesus Christ compels them to do
something, He will lead them to success in the endeavor, if only they are
obedient to Him. If you agree, then you are in for a rude awakening; our dreams
of success are not God's ultimate purpose for us. The question of whether or not
we arrive at a particular goal is not of primary importance. What we see as only
the process of reaching a particular end, God often sees as the goal
itself.
If I can stay calm, faithful and unconfused while in the middle of the
turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God
is not working toward a particular finish-- His purpose is the process
itself.
God's purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of
my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough
attention to the present. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience
and trust are the goal, then each moment as it comes becomes the real standard
of success."
I think it was Theodore Roosevelt who said that success was failure
upon failure with great enthusiasm. He may have been closer to the truth than he
realized.
"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I
press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own"
(Philippians 3:12).
