The Black Belt Attitude of a Believer in Christ

What an exciting day!  After much preparation Jace got his black belt.  The preparation was taxing not only Jace, but on me.  I spent a lot of time drilling him, helping him study and prompting him on his forms.  It made me think of how often the Lord must spend reviewing and going over things with me!!!  At the ceremony, Master Daniel made a point of telling the class that with a black belt comes a new responsibility- and not just for themselves because they have achieved a new level. He explained that as they achieve and succeed they represent the effort and skill of their Master, their parents, and their teachers, therefore their successes are also those of the Master, parents and teachers; however, so are their failures. Therefore, as Black Belts they have more responsibility to ensure they emulate a favorable representation.  I thought that was such a powerful point and lesson not only for the kids but the parents and the believer as well.  The Bible is clear that God gives us our skills, knowledge, and abilities.  When we do as God says, we reflect our Heavenly Master to those around us.  And again, when we fall short, we reflect that as well.  While God is gracious in redeeming my (and everyone’s) many mistakes, I still should do my best to represent my Master.   A Black Belt attitude in my walk with Christ!

Why Am I in This Place Where I Can't Be Effective?

Today I realized I need a change in perspective.  All along at work I was thinking my ministry was to accomplish something, to do a good job, to reveal problems and set about fixing them.  But after several years of trying to no avail, I’ve taken something Chuck Missler said to heart  (funny, because this has been the running theme of the week.  It started with a prominent teacher saying that God isn’t in control of everything, with which I vehemently disagree.)  He asks, Do I trust that God is in control of everything? So I set to pondering this…do I trust God to be in control?  Yes I do.  God knows that the problems at work will likely never get resolved, let alone correctly-the leadership structure and culture are pervasive.  So, if I’m not there to “fix” anything, why am I there?  At a meeting this morning it hit me…..I suppose it’s kind of like a hurting person or a sick patient.  You can’t fix their problems, but you can sit with them, serve them, minister to them, encourage them, and most importantly pray for them.   Likewise, I can’t fix the problems at work-only God can arrange that-so getting upset or frustrated certainly won’t help.  But I can listen and offer my service 150%.  I can encourage those around me to keep working and doing their best despite the low chance of seeing things execute-work for the Lord, not man.  I can pray--pray for those around me, those in leadership, my projects, resolution to problems, and for the many, many people who are hurting behind the careerist façade.  Maybe that is why God has me in this place.