Tag: success

Surround Yourself with People Who Lift You Higher

 

When I first saw this little jewel, it struck me like a thunder bolt. I spent my entire life surrounding myself with people who tried to not only keep me down but kept their foot on my back like a weight. It wasn’t something that I did consciously, it was just the path of least resistance. The reason was I felt lack of worth.

How many of us go through life feeling that same way and wonder why we never feel good enough for God, who lifts us higher than any human? No matter what circumstances we find our self, God is always there with his hand out wanting to lift us higher and higher. When the entire world walks away, God is there.

We see others who appear to be more successful, more productive, more this or that and we compare our self to them. They are not our yardstick. They are not the barometer by which we pin our success. We do not see into their hearts, we cannot know the path they are walking.

Our yardstick and barometer is God. He has shown us his path. He has shown us his successes, his loss, his hurt and his triumphs. Yet, he is never failing. He always has his hand out to lift us higher than we can ever lift ourselves.

As humans we feel that we need validation from other humans. We seek out their approval, their standard for our success with a thirst that is never quenched. We then wonder why we are not raised higher. The answer to that is simple. Others are just as flawed as we are. They fight their own demons and feelings of lack of self-worth.  When we depend on them to lift us up, we cheat ourselves and them of being lifted up by a power so high that we can never get enough of his lifting.

We forget to follow God’s example of lifting others up. We get so wrapped up in our own feelings we bring others down. How do we stop the cycle? The answer is simple. Take our Godly yardstick, use it for ourselves, and then use it to lift others which in turn lifts us even higher.

But we must remember this – we must not become so full of our self that we believe we are above those who have not reached the level that we believe they should be. God knows their heart. God knows their struggle. The height we reach is determined by how far down we reach out to others to help pull them higher.

surround yourself

 

Someone Once Asked…..

 

 

 

The other day as I was scrolling through my social media, I came across a saying that really resonated with me. My mother used to ask me this question but in a different form. The question was “Why do you always insist on taking the hard road?” I was not wise enough to answer her well. However, I think now I can even though she is not with me any longer here on earth. The answer to the question is simply this, “Why do you assume I see two roads.”

As we are on our road of life, sometimes we must take a path that maybe we did not see coming to teach us a lesson that will not only help us, but it might be of benefit to someone else. Sure, that road may be filled with potholes, and danger or even a collision or two. But they are there for a reason.

I know as a child I was not the easiest child to raise. I had my own mind from the time I was a toddler. I always went my own path. I guess I felt like I needed to know things to experience first hand things in order to learn. Did I make bad decisions, did I fall on my face. You bet. Did I disappoint my parents, on more than one occasion. Did I fail myself, you bet I did. Did I disappoint my creator, I have forgotten the times I did. And yet, I learned, sometimes I had to fall in that pothole more than once. I credit my Scot/Irish ancestors with that mindset. But I learned, eventually. For those of you who know the person you see today, I was not always that person. I was shy, timid, felt unworthy, unloved and unaccepted. I would not speak up, nor would I voice an opinion. I felt I had nothing to offer.  I strived to be all things to all people and in the end, I lost me. I felt that my words did not matter, that my worth did not matter and that no matter how much I strived, I would never matter. It took the hard road to show me that I mattered, if to no one else but God. I have been called harsh by some, even my own children in the past. Maybe   am. I know that if I am asked, I will speak up. If I see someone running out into the road and a truck is on a Collison course with them, I will try to pull them back. That is my road.

The “hard road” has taught me how to make my past experiences a guidepost not a hitching post and that is okay.

The point is this. As humans maybe we only see one road, and maybe that is okay. Maybe our journey will help someone else on their journey down their hard road. What we must remember is that our Creator is always by our side. He always walks with us and we always have a way to get out of those potholes.

 

There is More to Eve Than Meets the Eye

Ever since I was a small child I was taught the story of Eve. I was taught how she was deceived by the devil, how she talked Adam into eating the fruit and how because of her they were thrown out of the Garden.

But since those days, I have studied on my own. I found out thing about Eve that I was never taught. Life’s lessons that were put in the background. It hit me as I was watching all of the so feminist spouting their rhetoric about equal rights, blah, blah, blah. How women need to be empowered.

I went back to Eve. When we sit down and really look at Eve, we find that women have been empowered since the beginning of time. They have been leaders, they have been powerful. Let’s just start with Eve.

Yes, Eve sinned that is a given. Yes, she was deceived, that is a given. However, there are two thing that get lost in the translation. While she was deceived and while she did sin. She led a man. She led Adam into joining her in that sin. Adam was supposed to be the stronger one. The wiser one. The one who would resist. However, he fell under Eve’s spell and followed her into that sin. That shows power on  Eve’s part. Yes, it was wrong. But on the flip side of that same coin women can lead men into taking paths of greatness. They can lead men into making the right decisions. So when I hear women say they need to be empowered I scoff at their ignorance. They are already empowered they have not yet learned how to use it the proper way. Sure they still lead men, but the consequences of that path are not what they should be.

Now, let us look at the rest of the story. God told Adam he would live by the sweat of his brow. In other words he would have to work hard in order to make a living for himself and his family. While on the surface that might not appear to be a big deal it is. Adam should have said no. He should have showed the woman that by sinning they would be separated from their Creator. He did not. He followed. Gen 3:17 ”

17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

Now let’s look at Eve. While she was punished for her sin in that she would bear children in pain and sorrow, the promise of salvation came through her. God promised that he would strike the devil’s head through the woman. Which he did. God did not give the promise to Adam, he gave it to Eve when he cursed the Devil. Gen 3: 13-15

13And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
 Now back to this day and age. When Women say that we need to be empowered we need to “put men in their place.” I cringe. Both have a place God made it so. Both are a balance and both need each other. Women already have the empowerment. They were given it by God. They have forgotten how to use it for the greater good. They have forgotten how to honor men by helping them and in turn helping themselves.
 As women let us return to the understanding that we are already empowered, we just have to stop trying to be men and embrace ourselves as women and use the tools God gave us. Let us go back to treating men with respect they deserve as men and encourage them to be the best they can be. In that light not only will they be successful we will as well.