Years ago, an entrepreneur I barely knew asked if we could meet. He was an aggressive businessperson, a roaring lion among his peers. Yet on the phone, he seemed hesitant, perhaps broken. He certainly choked up a few times in our short conversation.
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We met for lunch on his fortieth birthday. Again, his demeanor was vulnerable and exhausted, and something in my heart went out to him for whatever his suffering might be.
He said he had been struggling but nothing relieved the pain. His nights were restless, every discussion with his wife ended up in a fight, and he had even lost interest in helping his son play soccer. As he shared, tears silently rolled down his cheeks.
His voice finally broke, and he began to sob right there in the restaurant. I still had no idea what his issue was, but his tears broke my heart.
He eventually quieted himself and explained. Ever since he was a child, he had wanted to run a successful business. He had even set a goal of having ten million dollars in the bank by the age of forty. He moaned,
Sam, including savings in my 401k, I barely have six million dollars to my name.
This conversation happened exactly as I write it above, though even as I read it over again, I shake my head in disbelief. But it happened.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
When I was in business, we evaluated employees using SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound). The goals varied widely, depending on the job, but their annual raises (or promotions) were contingent on their achieving specific targets.
- Salespeople were judged by the annual revenue of their sales.
- Software analysts were ranked by the average turn-around time on bug fixes.
- And owners computed their value on the profits made.
Christians may shy away from worldly standards, but temptations of worldly wisdom creep in:
- Churches fixate on the size of their Sunday attendance.
- Campus ministries ask for monthly reports on Bible studies led and donor letters sent.
- And the person in the pew measures their spiritual progress by the length of their personal prayer time, how much they donate, or how much shame they’ve rejected.
We quantify our lives with numbers: diapers changed, dishes washed, and golf handicaps. (I recently got my golf score down to 74. But then I fell apart on the back nine. Thanks for asking.)
What Is the Value of Our Lives?
Allen Gardiner was a mid-nineteenth century missionary who passionately longed to plant a mission in South America. In 1850, he and a few friends landed on an island off the southern coast of Chile. They had provisions for six months.
The climate was harsh, the local people hostile, the land barren, and the resupply ship was delayed. Short of food and medical supplies, all of Gardiner’s companions suffered the painful death of starvation. Gardiner too finally succumbed, survived only by his journal.
By all modern measures of ministry success, Gardiner’s life was a failure: his church attendance was a handful of friends, he preached almost no sermons, not one soul was saved and not one Bible study was conducted. Yet the second to last sentence in his journal reads,
Young lions do lack and suffer hunger; yet they that seek the Lord shall lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10).
Beneath that verse he penned his last words on earth,
I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.
Was his life a failure? The world as we know it will be shaken and will pass. The true measure of our lives is determined by the level of intimacy we have with our Lord. It’s never what we do as much as what we worship.
Let’s invest all we have in the One Thing that lasts: worship of the Son of God.
Sam
I Was A Fool
Good morning Sam……. I’m snacking on this today
Blessings and Peace in Christ today brother,
tr
Hi Timothy,
Ah, you quote one of the most encouraging passages:
-A living hope
-Born into
-Incorruptible inheritance
-Purified, genuineness of our faith
-The salvation of our souls
Who could not be devoted to One who would do this for us?
Wow sam. What a timely word. I often think about my career ambitions and where they might lead me, but I too often forget about the worthiness of knwoing Christ regardless of what path I take
Cheers.
Hi Jinwoo,
SO GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU!
I worked a secular job for decades. And when I look back on my life, I barely remember those challenges or triumphs. Rather it is the relationships.
And all relationships on earth are a pale shadow of our relationship with Him.
But … will we believe it?
While studying once more about the initial return of the Jews to their homeland, I noted that there were 5000 vessels that were being returned from the pagan temple back for the New Temple in Israel. WOW! God spoke to my heart saying: “MY VESSELS ARE BEING RETURNED TO M Y TEMPLE AND WILL BE REDEDICATED TO MY EXCLUSIVE SERVICE!!” We are to expect to see this as GOD changes our focus B A C K to H I M and our Relationship with Him! The F O C U S must change totally to our loving Heavenly Father….and intimacy with Him!
May the vessels of our hearts be devoted to Him.
Thanks
Hi Sam. An amazing story recounted! Thanks!
I have found that “Faith is measured” not by events or accomplishments, but by the depth of our trust in God – in spite of circumstances. As modern days Christians, in the presence of “Social Media”, we may have difficulty acknowledging the level of faith exposed in your story of the missionaries.
Surely Facebook and “Go Fund Me” would have solved this gentleman and his companions’ problems, before such a horrific end, had that media existed in the 1800’s.
Recently, as I have been pondering my own life, I have found it incredible that we can “doubt God”, NOT in the face of disappointment, but in the face of FULFILLED promises. ?
That’s right, our faith is challenged when we fail to win the lottery, or receive an unexpected inheritance…EVEN THOUGH, God has continued to supply ALL our needs on a day to day and month to month basis.
What’s up with that mindset.???
I suspect it is because it can be emotionally exhausting to be trusting God from day to day and year to year, rather than having our expectations fulfilled miraculously, suddenly and all at once. Usually BIT the best outcome.
In my book, “Like Eating Jelly with Chopsticks”, I chronicle the story of a man who won the lottery, had great intentions for the money, wanted to build a church, etc. yet somehow was able to drive his own daughter and many of her friends to violent ends and to destroy the fiber of his West Virginia community.
This Lottery win was initially seen as an answer to prayer, but as events unfolded, inappropriate choices, on most peoples parts , led to a disastrous end.
God will always honor our choices, including the inappropriate, and even damaging ones. That permission which God gives us is called “Free Will.” In its absence we would be God’s automatons, not His Heirs and Sons and Daughters.
In examining our day to day circumstances, It is easy to fall back into doubting the “goodness of God”. AND that is exactly what the enemy would desire us to do. By following that path, we ultimately destroy our faith and, by our example, can negatively influence others.
As the slogan writer in the 70’s wrote, “Keep the Faith, Baby.” And do it in the only way it works (in the long run), that is, day by day and choice by choice.
Thanks Sam for the inspiration ???
Hi Jack,
I like your line,
Maybe the biggest problem we humans have is bad memories. We forget the countless times He has saved us, so we worry today again.
Thank