Destined For Change
I am fascinated by the life of Thomas Edison. Anybody who can give the world electric lights, microphones, storage batteries, sound films, phonographs, and a thousand other inventions is worth studying. Historians say that Edison was driven by one word - purpose. Not pleasure, not popularity, not even personal gain - but purpose.
Here are some of the recorded principles by which he lived:
- Work to obtain all the knowledge you can about what you want to achieve.
- Fix your mind on your purpose. Persist! Seek! Use all the knowledge you can accumulate or learn from others.
- Keep on searching no matter how many times you meet disappointment.
- Refuse to be influenced by the fact that someone else tried the same thing and failed.
- Keep yourself 'sold' on the idea that a solution to the problem exists somewhere, and that you will find it.
- Then he added, "The trouble with most people is, they quit before they start."
It's only when you have done your part that you can call on the Lord with confidence to do the things that you cannot do. Nehemiah didn't conquer through brilliance or his strategy alone. He conquered through prayer and perseverance (Nehemiah 4:9). In spite of the criticism, in spite of threats, in spite of the pressure, he refused to fold his tent and run - that's why he rebuilt Jerusalem. God will always honor the man who never gives up.
In all of our purposes, our doing, our ability to achieve, we must also focus on the fact that God has a purpose for us. The purpose that God has for us is that we are all being changed into His (Jesus) likeness (II Corinthians 3:18). We all usually enjoy the blessings that accompany change; it is just that we hate the process of change. First we form habits, then our habits form us. Before we know it, we see the world only from our perspective. When that happens, we begin to stagnate. Without change there is no growth. Here is my prayer, "Lord, help me to be teachable and not set in my ways that are not your ways. For if I am teachable, then I know that I am willing to change, and I know that if I am willing to change, then I will grow. Then when I grow, it is in you, and not just in knowledge, which may just puff me up in pride. Help me Lord to be teachable."
Consider this: trees need more than one season to produce fruit. Rainy seasons are growing seasons, too, and they always come before harvest. You don't have to like the rain, you just have to understand why it's there. It's there for growth. But to be like Jesus, we must follow wherever He leads. That means following Him through the wilderness of temptation, the pain of rejection, the forfeiting of our reputations, the complete surrender of our wills to God's will. (His purpose again is to change us and transform us into the image of His son.) Finally, we must go all the way to crucifixion for Him, dying to self. After all, to walk with Jesus means that you are going to be in a different place tomorrow than you are in today. The question is: Are you willing to follow Him all the way? Take some time to ponder the question and to consider your answer, for it will ultimately determine your destiny.
Michael R. Smith