PUSH: Persevere Until Success Happens Through Prayer (16 page)

Nor are you prevented from accomplishing your goals or living the life of your dreams because of another person’s estimation of your abilities. If that were true, there would be no Albert Einstein or Abraham Lincoln. You have not accomplished your goals, maximized your potential, written that book, started that business, or lost that weight only because you and you alone have decided not to. Forget about excuses. Anthony Robbins, a world famous motivational speaker, said it this way, “It is in your moments of decisions that your destiny is shaped.”

Many times we do not make decisions that lead us closer to fulfilling the plans that God has for us because of deep feelings of inadequacy. But those feelings are nothing but lies and illusions. In the words of Marianne Williamson, “We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
⁶⁷
Go ahead, make a decision to succeed, to fulfill your purpose, to maximize your potential—you are always only one decision away from living the life of your dreams.

Michael Miles, author of
Thirty Days to Change Your Life
, writes:

The present is always fresh. There is always a new choice to make, and you are always creating your life again. No matter what has happened in the past—whatever habits you have developed, however deeply ingrained are your patterns of behavior—there is always scope for you to choose a new response.
⁶⁸

Mary Anne Evans, better known as George Eliot, once wrote, “It is never too late to be who you might have been.” And Anthony Robbins advises that you ask yourself, “How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I’m committed to?” Begin today choosing to do the things required to be who you want to become. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
⁶⁹

I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.
—D
EUTERONOMY
30:19

Until one is committed There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, Always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative
(and creation)
, There is one elementary truth, The ignorance of which kills countless ideas And splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, Then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one That would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision Raising in one’s favor all manner Of unforeseen incidents and meetings And material assistance, Which no man could have dreamt Would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power in it.
—W. H. M
URRAY
, from
The Scottish Himalayan Expedition

I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.
—O
G
M
ANDINO

W
e live in an age where people are attempting to discover their purpose and maximize their potential. Many believe they have a purpose in life but have not quite discovered exactly what it is. Usually when someone says they know what their purpose is in life, they are simply saying they were born for a reason, but what that reason is exactly may continue to elude them for the rest of their time here on earth. Author of the 1955 classic
Achieving Real Happiness
, Kenneth Hildebrand once said:

Multitudes of people, drifting aimlessly to and fro without a set purpose, deny themselves such fulfillment of their capacities, and the satisfying happiness which attends it. They are not wicked, they are only shallow. They are not mean or vicious; they simply are empty—shake them and they would rattle like gourds. They lack range, depth, and conviction. Without purpose their lives ultimately wander into the morass of dissatisfaction. As we harness our abilities to a steady purpose and undertake the long pull toward its accomplishment, rich compensations reward us. A sense of purpose simplifies life and therefore concentrates our abilities; and concentration adds power.
⁷⁰

Purpose allows you to get out of life’s bleachers and play full out on the field of your dreams. God has a purpose for each one of our lives, and His purpose will prevail. Sometimes God will even mess up
our
plans so that only His purpose does prevail. Because it is God who decides our purpose in life, putting our life into His hands will guarantee that we will live a successful, on-purpose life. If that’s all we do, we will have done well.

No matter what your circumstances are today, God has a beautiful purpose for your life. I came across this story about a cracked pot that perfectly illustrates this point:

A water bearer in India had two large pots, which hung on each end of a pole that he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, but the poor cracked pot was tormented by its imperfections—ashamed that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, the cracked water pot spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer, “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have only been able to deliver half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. You do all of this work and don’t get full value for your efforts,” the pot said. The water bearer patiently said to the pot, “As we return to the master’s house I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some—but at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load. Again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. Without you being just the way you are, my master would not have beautiful bouquets to grace his table.”
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This story really spoke to me and let me know that purpose has a way of pushing through the most obstinate circumstances to find its truest expression. In the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, there is an account of the genealogy of Christ, which proves this point. God doesn’t look at the outward appearance, but He speaks to potential; not where you are, but where you are going.

According to Matthew 1:1-17, purpose and sovereignty and divine destiny have the power to override and cancel the effect of the most horrible and dysfunctional of heredities, generational curses, imperfections, idiosyncratic insufficiencies, and humiliating histories. Although we may be tempted to skip the string of men and women mentioned in this text, and dismiss this account as antiquated Jewish writings or apostolic ramblings of no spiritual or applicable value (other than that of identifying the genealogical heritage of Jesus), a careful examination will expose divine eloquence in revealing that through the manifold background of Jesus (though divine in origin), His close relations with “common” men made Him the perfect candidate to bring redemption to humanity. Although truly God, He was also truly
of
man. Our human IQ is swallowed up in the divine “I AM.” Our insufficiency is consumed by His all-sufficiency. He supplies all of our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).

God always fulfills His purpose irrespective of man’s frailties. His purpose always prevails. He sees the end from the beginning. He chooses whom He uses. Just like the amazing men and women you read about in the Bible, God has impregnated you with greatness—with an assignment, a purpose, a mantle, an anointing, and a destiny. Your current circumstances will expose that divine encryption of greatness hidden within your DNA. So push! Push through your hard times, tears, trials, and setbacks!

The man by the pool of Bethesda lay there for thirty-eight years with the potential to walk locked up on the inside of him (John 5:5-8). He never did because no one spoke to his potential until Jesus came

along and told him, “Rise up and walk!” I speak to your potential today. Whatever is hidden and lying dormant within you, I quicken it and call it forth. Today I want to encourage you not to give up and not to give in!

Remind yourself:

• God is about to come through for you.
  
• This is a day of good news.
  
• Your miracle is in motion.
  
• God is posturing you for greatness.
  
• The whole universe is rooting for you.
  
• Heaven is pregnant.
  
• The whole earth is groaning.
  

So will the real sons and daughters of God please stand up. Stand up in spite of your tears, your fears, your tests, and your struggles. Because when it is all over, you will live in new realms of power, influence, favor, and affluence. You’ll be debt free, drama free, disease free, and depression free.

Heaven wants to deliver something through you and to you today. It is pregnant with the plans and purposes of God. Each of us has our own unique flaws. Battered, beaten, and worn out over the years, we often have the tendency to believe that somehow God’s purpose cannot prevail in our lives. His purpose is stronger than our weaknesses, past failures, and present fears. We’re all cracked pots! But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father’s table. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. Romans 9:19-23 states:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory?

As God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you too can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. Go out boldly, knowing that in your weakness you will find His strength. The Lord told Paul
, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”
(2 Corinthians 12:9).

He is the Potter and you are the clay. Paul inquired of the Romans,
“Does not the potter have power over the clay?”
(Romans 9:21). Of course He does. Let God’s purpose prevail, as He chooses how He wants to use you in the earth.

This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
—I
SAIAH
14:26-27

N
apoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France (1769–1821), said, “Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.” In Matthew 19:26 Jesus said,
“With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
What is considered impossible is truly a matter of opinion. As history shows, perseverance and determination often outweigh human notions of what is possible. In fact, determination is the critical ingredient of any worthwhile success. Nothing great has ever been achieved without it—no battle won, no business built, no barrier broken through, no bridge completed.

I want to share a true story that has been widely circulated about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. The author is unknown, but it famously demonstrates the power of determination to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds:

In 1883 a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with Long Island. Bridge building experts throughout the world thought this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this glorious bridge. After much discussion and persuasion, he managed to convince his son Washington, an up-and-coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished. With great excitement and anticipation, they hired their crew and began building the world’s largest suspension bridge.