If I want to be successful…

To be successful at work…

• Ernst & Young taught me that I should work just half a day… 12 hours.
• I should devote 1 hour a day to staying current on world events and financial markets.
• I should maintain the speed limit on the road, stretching my average drive time to and from the office, meetings, and gym to 3 hours a day.

To be successful with my health…

• Health magazines say I need 8 hours of sleep a night.
• Thomas Jefferson said you should devote 2 hours a day to physically strenuous activities.
• My back doctors tell me I should spend 1 hour a day stretching.
• Health books tell me to each day drink a gallon of water, eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, eat 6 small well-balanced meals, including 8 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoid microwaves, processed foods, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup. (2 hours)

To be successful personally…

• I should devote 3 hours a day to personal hygiene, getting ready in the morning, running errands after work, doing house chores, and “unwinding” in the evening with a favorite TV show.
• My high school English teacher told me I should read for 1 hour before bedtime.

To be successful relationally…

• I should devote an average of 3 hours per day maintaining friend and family relationships and being involved in social groups to grow, serve and influence others
• I should devote 1 hour in the morning focused on my relationship with God, reading the Bible, praying, and getting mentally and spiritually ready for the day.

How much time does it take in a day to do everything I should do to be successful?  Roughly 37 hours.

I cannot do it all… but I try.  In the fear of missing out on something good, I pack my schedule tight with all good things, but find I’m too busy to enjoy any of it.  In my attempt to squeeze all the “marrow” out of life, I squeeze all the “margin” out of life instead.

24 hours a day is all we get.  And only God knows the number of our days (Job 14:5).  Why not surrender our days to the Creator of time and the only one who knows how much time we have left?  May we remember that all that’s required is only what God has called us to do in the limited time we have.  May we pray for the wisdom to know what is truly most important and not allow the secondary to interfere.    Then will we be truly “successful”.

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Ludwig van Beethoven’s final and most famous symphony was his “Ninth Symphony”.  Through the ages, his masterpiece has been widely considered the most exciting and impacting piece in all of classical music.  Yet, Beethoven himself never heard it.  At the time he composed his Ninth Symphony, he was completely deaf.

On the opening night of his symphony’s performance, Beethoven sat on stage facing the orchestra, for though he could not hear, he could feel the musical vibrations through the floor.  The performance stunned the audience as the masses erupted in a standing ovation at the symphony’s conclusion.  Noticing that Beethoven could not see the crowd’s response from his seat, his colleagues picked him up and turned him to face the roars of the audience.  Though he heard nothing, he saw the resounding impact of what he had created.

All Beethoven knew in his later years was silence.  He also understood that a symphony’s power comes not just from the notes of the music, but from the space between the notes.  The silent pauses.  Written into the music preceding the crescendo is a brief moment of silence – as if to prepare the audience for the crescendo to come.  In the silence you hear, “Here comes the moment you’ve been waiting for!”

Throughout the Bible, God is silent.  He was silent when Joseph was thrown into an Egyptian prison, when David was hunted by Saul, and when Christ was hanging on the Cross.  In those moments, God did not bring justice.  He did not step in to ‘save the day’.  He was silent.  But the symphony was not over.  Suddenly God shows up unexpectedly.  Joseph is put in charge of the land of Egypt, David becomes king of Israel, and Christ is raised from the dead.  We discover that while God was silent, he was actually preparing to make his power known in an unmistaken way.

“When God is silent, he is not still.” – Jeff Henderson

Rarely am I completely confident I’m where God wants me, doing what He’s called me to do.  He seems to inform me on a “need-to-know” basis only.  Yet I find that the act of seeking him somehow positions me for the day when clarity finally comes.  I must remember that God’s silence does not mean the song is over; rather, his silence is preparation for what lies ahead.

May we recognize that the silence between the crescendos in life is what makes the music so spectacular.  May we use those silent moments to rest and prepare for the grand crescendos to come.  And in the silence may we hear, “Here comes the moment you’ve been waiting for!”

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” – Peter (I Peter 5:6)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – (Psalm 46:10)

In the early 1800s, the Napoleonic Wars ravaged the European countryside seizing most of Europe for France.  Napoleon Bonaparte commanded an army and military system of a scale never before seen in the history of the world.   After years of endless siege throughout Europe, Napoleon was defeated and exiled to the island of Elba in 1814.  But this would not be the end.

In March of 1815, Napoleon re-entered France and reinstated himself as Emperor and quickly amassed his forces.  During that period know as the ‘Hundred Days’, Britain and Prussia assembled their armies to bring down Napoleon’s troops one final time.  Commanded by the Duke of Wellington, the British army, along with the Prussians, finally and completely defeated Napoleon’s forces at the Battle of Waterloo on July 18, 1815.

After the battle, the Duke of Wellington was reportedly questioned as to how he was able to finally put an end to Napoleon’s reign after so many armies before him were unsuccessful.  They asked him:

“Were your soldiers better trained than those of Napoleon?”

“No.”

“Were they better equipped than those of Napoleon?”

“No.”

“Were they stronger?”

“No.”

Finally the question came:

“Were they more courageous?”

“No… But they were courageous for 5 minutes longer.”

According to Wellington, Enduring Courage won the day.  Not just courage, but persistent, enduring courage- the kind of courage that weaves its way through every great legendary tale, every super hero, every Rocky, Rudy, and Karate Kid story through the ages.

Rocky endures 15 brutal rounds with the Russian before knocking him out in the final seconds; Rudy, after two years of punishing practices, runs onto the field to the wild cheers of 80,000 Fighting Irish fans; Daniel Caruso, on one good leg, pulls out the ‘crane technique’ to win the final point of the tournament.  In the end, against all odds, enduring courage prevailed.

Andy Stanley, senior pastor at Northpoint Community Church, keeps a card on his desk that reads:

What in my life today demands courage?

Enduring courage is a daily act, a moment by moment decision to persevere to the end.  May we know that the difference is often made in the final moments, that history is shaped by men who refuse to surrender, and that we are called to be “courageous for 5 minutes longer.”

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – God

(Joshua 1:9)

The Biltmore, located in Asheville, North Carolina, was completed in 1895 with 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and 3 kitchens on 4 acres of floor space.  The live-in cooks worked around the clock to feed the family, their guests and the more than 35 full-time workers, yet they kept only a few small shelves of canned foods on hand.  Almost all the food stored in the kitchens was non-canned food that spoiled quickly.  In the early 1900’s no one was buying canned foods.  Why? Because the can opener had not yet been invented.

When canned food was first invented in 1813, instructions on the cans read: “Cut around the top with a chisel and hammer.”  Though minor improvements were made to can opening devices over the years, the modern can opener with a serrated rotation wheel was not invented until 1925 – over 100 years after the birth of the metal can.  No one bought canned goods, not because the food was bad, but because there was no easy access to the food.  The food was fine; it was getting to the food that was the hard part.

Imagine the exponential increase in production and distribution of canned goods all over the world throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’s had the can opener been invented.  How many more people would have bought canned foods had their simply been an easy way to open the cans?  How many more cans might have reached the poor, providing them with cheap food that didn’t spoil?  Yet year after year the world waited, without even knowing it, for someone to give them easy access to the food inside the cans.

Like the can opener, maybe the biggest barrier to spiritual growth is easy access to someone to show them how to do it!  The truth is the same; it’s getting to the truth that’s hard!  To me, it’s also the story the Christmas.  For thousands of years people followed the Law given through Moses – it was good for sin management, but it couldn’t give them easy access to God.  The law could point out and condemn sin, but it could not remove it.  The world waited for a savior.  We celebrate Christmas because Jesus’ birth, for the first time in history, created a way to have easy access to God.  Jesus told his disciples, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen my Father as well.”  The curious thing about Jesus was that he had to authority, he held no positions, he did nothing that usually accompanies success, yet he had the greatest influence of anyone who ever lived.  He mostly hung out with 12 guys for 3 years and today we celebrate him as the central figure of the human race – not because of what he did, but because of who he was.

I often forget that God is more concerned about who I am than what I do.  There’s something in me, and in probably most, that dreams of being the superhero, the all-star, the guy who saves the day, wins the prize, or galvanizes the masses.  But the people who have the most influence in your life often have the least Authority.  Easy access to those in your sphere of influence.  It’s great to have ambitions to one day reach the poorest kid in the smallest villages of Africa, but what am I doing today for the kid down the street?  How can I be his “can opener”?  I may be the only Bible someone ever reads.  The can opener is a reminder that family and friends truly are the greatest gifts in life, a reminder to cherish those quiet moments, and to be grateful that we have a savior that provided easy access to God.

“Despite efforts to keep Him out, God intrudes.  The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities:  a virgin’s womb and an empty tomb.  Jesus entered our world through a door marked ‘No Entrance’ and left through a door marked ‘No Exit’.” – Author Unknown