Accomplishment
A devotional about true accomplishment
SCRIPTURE:
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
—Isaiah 55:10-11—
THOUGHT:
As I am getting older, I have discovered much more about how much I don’t know or can’t do or haven’t accomplished. I believe as our bodies slow down and quiet times seem in greater abundance, we have more time to contemplate those things done and undone. The thoughts rumble around in my mind, attempting to organize themselves into a compilation. I always wanted to travel and yet never really went past the small border towns of Mexico. I always wanted to write a novel with the full intent of changing the world, yet my manuscript remains dusty and untouched except for a few hours of reflection and scribbles. I always wanted to play in a famous symphony, yet my musical talent is ironically infamous. I’ve always wanted to be attractive, no, gorgeous! Yet, I struggle just to keep myself “presentable” in society.
In self-preservation, I try to dredge up remnants of what I have completed. Yes, my travels only wandered a few miles south to Mexico. Yet, it was to help on mission trips to build churches and homes for persons who are much less fortunate than myself. I still have a home-made embroidered plaque on my mantle that says “Cree en El Senor, Jesus Cristo, y seras salvo tu y tu casa” OR Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your house will be saved”. It was sewn together by the matriarch of the church in Mexico. A wonderful woman who loved our God. She had nothing material. A one room “home” with faulty and aging plumbing, one real bed, a stove with one burner, and “sometimes” a refrigerator. That doesn’t sound too bad until you know that she was married with 5 children and one on the way. Her husband sold candied apples in the street. When we were leaving Mexico on one trip, we stopped by her home to give her some money for the church to buy Sunday School items that would help the children. She was thankful of course, tears overflowing with gratitude. Yet, it was us that were much more than grateful as we left. You see, she had gathered scraps of yarn over the years, and saved them in a special basket. Then, painstakingly and lovingly, she connected all the remnants into the plaque we now proudly display on our mantle. It is not a “work of art” as most people would deem. It will never hang in a museum. It will disintegrate into dust not long after we are all gone. Still…it is priceless to us. It depicts a time when we were able to bring a minute portion of assistance to a tiny part of the world that remains hidden away from the metropolis. We hugged children with lice and never felt better. We ate cactus tacos and were ravenous in our delectable meal. We sang songs in our broken Spanish and people actually still understood us. We worshipped with people we never saw again and yet keep their faces in our hearts and souls. We even attempted to teach the minister at the church say “van”, to no avail. We comforted people that were mourning after one of their little ones drowned in the sewage canal next to their church. We cried a lot. We laughed a lot. We loved a lot.
I still have things to do and as time marches on, I am forced to recall those things that I have not experienced as yet. The recollections are intriguing albeit harsh because of the lack of time. Still, those poignant memories of what God has allowed us to experience, give a feeling that although it may not be what we dreamed of, it still comforts us with sense of personal success. I have not traveled to faraway lands and met kings and queens, but I have met a queen of sorts in Mexico who taught me the benefits of Gods’ Love amidst extreme poverty. I have not played in a symphony, but I have sung my heart out in a dirt floor church with children playing all around us. I have not written a novel but I have written those children’s names on my heart.
So you see, it’s not how far we travel or where we go or what book we write or what accolades we receive. It is more about what we do with what we have and to try and ensure that all that we do is about Gods’ people. Have we changed someone’s view on God? Have we helped to be a miniscule part of a child’s knowledge about the love of God? Have we “built” something more worthy than our own idols?
I am reminded what Winston Churchill once said during the midst of the post World War II reconstruction era.
“We make living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”
PRAYER:
Hear us O Lord. Hear our prayers for making a difference in Your World. Help us to remember to give and to love. Help push away our fear of inadequacies. For we know that those kind of feelings are not to be kept in the soul of a believer. Open our hearts and our lives to travel wherever you want us to go and touch those Children of God who need You. Erase our selfishness for our notoriety and allow sufficient room for the thoughts that should encompass our every second of living. We love you…help us show it.
AMEN.
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