Thursday, August 13, 2009

"THE" Difference

You know, it has always amazed me how everything has a purpose. Everything that has been made was made with a specific use in mind. Eating utensils were created for people to use instead of having to use their hands. Vehicles of all types were made so that we could cover greater distances than we would if we had to travel by foot or by horse, or what have you. I even remember once when one of my kids got something really small stuck in their ear when they was younger. They even had a tiny tool at the hospital to get it out (and it was a couple hundred dollars for that!). Amazing.

It is interesting to me that we can find a purpose for almost each and every tool in a toolbox, but can't seem to decipher our own purpose. What's up with that?

Here we are, some of the most advanced minds in the world and yet many of use spend time trying to fulfill someone else's purpose instead our own. I'm not talking about helping someone fulfill a purpose or make a difference, but rather taking on the purpose of someone else as if it were our own. That's like the analogy I often use. A screwdriver was made to drive screws into things, but you COULD cut a cake with one. A credit card was made so that you could "spend money easily," but, if you know how, you could open a door with one (I've never quite figured out how to do that).

Things work best when they are functioning according to the purpose for which they were made. You were created to make a difference. You were created to make YOUR mark on this world and NOBODY can make that mark but YOU.

There's a not-so-old movie that Dennis Quaid did called "The Rookie" that I strongly suggest you watch about a baseball coach who steps out to fulfill a life-long dream. I won't tell you anymore in case you haven't seen it. There is one scene in it when he asked his father, whom he had grown far apart from over the years, for advice. He basically asked him, "Should I do this?" I thought the father had the most profound response. He said, "Well, it's fine to do what you CAN do, but ONLY until it's time to do what you were BORN to do." DUDE!! DOES THAT NOT JUST ROCK?!

Check it, ya'll. Don't live your life in the shadows longing to step out into the light. You might be waiting on God, but what if GOD is waiting on YOU?

There is a difference between making "A" difference and making "THE" difference you were created to make. Personally, I've had enough of just kinda going with the flow of living. I know I was made for something greater than what I've accomplished in my life and it's time to get after it. Risk is scary and uncomfortable. That's why it's called a "RISK." But when you think about it, what do you REALLY have to lose? You take a risk and it either pays off or it doesn't. My dear friend Liz Cooley said something to me one night while we were in college that really drove my life from that point on. I was telling her how afraid I was to try because I didn't want to fail. She stood up and yelled out, "OH NO, GREG! DON'T DO IT! If you DON'T try, YOU HAVE FAILED ALREADY!" From that moment I have been "trying" every chance I got. The problem is I seemed to have forgotten how to try. Why? Because of the "program." We get into a routine of living where everything just kinda works and we don't have to really even think about it much. It's a machine that runs fine and needs no help. The problem is we STOP living and begin existing.

I don't wanna do that anymore. Do you?

In this time and season, Man, it's time to be done with the mediocre. It's time to find your niche and work it to the bone. And you can't find your niche without connecting with the One who made you. He knows EXACTLY what it is and can guide you to it AND through it. So get with God and find out what you're REALLY supposed to be about, get His wisdom about the process, sever the ties with mediocrity, and DO IT.

There is a world out there (out here) waiting on you to start making "THE" difference you were BORN to make.

Peace,

G