A thought by John Ortberg from his
book, The Me I Want to Be (p. 85).
Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to
buy the book.)
John continues, “He was constantly
moving, teaching, building, and motivating. He described his life with
metaphors such as ‘I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.’ (2
Timothy 4:7) God did not take away Paul’s desire to achieve; rather, he
harnessed it so that Paul could serve others.”
John goes on, “We all have desires to
achieve things because God created us to have dominion. That is why the writer
of Ecclesiastes says, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.’
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) It is a good thing to want to achieve.
“Maybe you have a strong drive in your
career. Maybe you are highly motivated by the opportunity to learn. Maybe you
just love to accomplish. If your achievement desires are leading you to workaholism,
to worshiping status, to neglecting prayer, or to using people, then your work
needs redirection. But if that is not the case — if you find yourself growing
in God and there’s an inner fire in you to achieve — go ahead and achieve.
Revel in the joy of exercising godly dominion.”
John then says, “Use your ability to
accomplish good for others. And when you are doing it — when you are
contributing to a meeting, adding value to a team, or formulating ideas — you
will know it is more than just you. As you have relational skills that enable
you to bond with clients, you can simultaneously pray for them and bless them.
Every now and then stop and thank God that you get to do this, for as you
achieve and feel joy in doing so, you are exercising dominion and opening
yourself up to the flow of the Spirit.”
So, would you continue to strive to achieve
what God has given you to do? Will you let Him harness your drive so He can make a difference for good through you? Will you?
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