So amazed at how God can speak to a person through movies. I’ve seen this movie, “Facing The Giants”, a long time ago and a clip was recently used by one speaker as an illustration at one of our conferences (Sales Transformation). He was speaking about things that make a great sales team.
Earlier this evening, I caught up with the connectors in our CG after work for a quick huddle and I shared it with them, coupling it with some revelations that we can related to.
Click on to view before reading my thoughts about it
We can gain a lot of valuable insights from the 5-minute clip but some key things I highlighted in relation to ministry were:
1. Giving our BEST shot
- Only one thing was repeatedly expected of the player in the movie, “I wanna see your absolute best. You’re gonna give me your best.”, says the coach. I imagine God telling me that all the time, especially when the path I’m taking seems like a death crawl and I got people to carry behind my back.
- We cannot fool ourselves. If we can be honest to goodness with ourselves, we are in a position to say whether we gave it our best shot or it’s something just average or mediocre.
- Ultimately, it is God we’re trying to please – not our pastors, not our CG members, not our friends. We’re not even trying to benchmark ourselves against other cell groups.
- Results do not define your identity. If we gave it our best toward an audience of One – God – then He is pleased no matter what. He looks beyond what you’ve done, He looks at the heart that longs to give its utmost.
- As we do, God promises strength, endurance, patience, joy, enabling power that belongs to us His people:
“We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.” Colossians 1:11-12 NLT
I posted these questions and let them linger in their mind:
- What have you done lately that demonstrates you giving your best shot?
- If you can’t think of any, then what’s holding you from giving your best?
2. Leave the RESULTS to God
- To the skeptics and mockers, Jesus looked defeated. He was scorned at as He made His way to the Cross. The day He died appeared as a confirmation of His loss. But they were wrong… It was God Himself who brought life into the seemingly dead situation. Jesus simply had to obey and be under the Father’s will so He can move to save humanity.
- God stays in control and He who began a good work in us, in a person’s life, will be faithful to complete it. He’ll accomplish it with or without us in the picture. Of course it would be best if the fruits bear while we’re in the same season of their life. But it doesn’t happen all the time. God, in His Sovereignty, can use other divine connections to see that into fulfillment. It’s His work and purpose anyway.
- Obedience is our responsibility, the result is God’s responsibility (we do our part, God does His). Let’s not stress ourselves out. We can find relief in the fact that a tree doesn’t grow in all types of ground. But that shouldn’t stop us from scattering and planting seeds wherever we go, whichever ground we come across with.
“It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”
1 Corinthians 3:7-9 NLT
3. Every person has INFLUENCE
- You and I have the power to influence – may it be for the good or bad, or even to the point of influencing people to stay neutral or passive by not doing anything. We can influence others to go toward a certain direction or not move at all.
- And this varies from people to people in levels and degrees of influence. Leaders and those with leadership potential have a greater measure.
- We are the ones more accountable to God and people as to how we talk and act what we believe in. In the movie, the guy was affirmed to be the most influential and was at the same time, made aware of how his speech and actions are affecting everybody else around him.
- With his “never give up” attitude, he became a living proof that things become possible when you put your heart and mind into it. That got me more conscious of how my life is influencing others. Are they drawn closer to God because of me? Are they believing and pursuing God’s best with the help of my example? Am I being a good example of what true faith, hope and love is? Is my life encouraging enough? Am I causing people to stumble? Have I been talking in a defeated way?
- It’s not calling for us to be fake and a hypocrite before people. But I am mindful that my actions may be perceived differently by another person. If I am going through a really tough time, I don’t have to pretend that things are OK but I need to be more conscious of how I say it. Is it showing a side of weakness while trusting God’s strength and intervention? Is it pointing a moment of darkness while expecting light at the end of it all? At the end of the day we’d like to communicate a MESSAGE OF HOPE. We’d like to emphasize God’s work of grace in the midst of it all.
- And amazingly, God usually comes through for me and turn into reality what I believe Him to do in that situation =) All the more I wanna do it!
“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” Proverbs 18:21 NLT
“…Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12b NLT
