Possibly there are some of you on this call for whom this has been a great year and you are excited about the things that have happened in your life and don't want it to end. You are on a high and hope that 2011 takes off from where you are.
There could also be some of you on this call for whom the year was coasting and then suddenly it's like having the rug being pulled out from under your feet and you hit rock bottom. The things that looked so stable and sure suddenly look so fragile and insecure. You look at the year that's coming and wonder if it is going to be a little different and offer you a little stability.
Bill Vaughan says "An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in; a pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."
We probably fall in one of those 2 categories. But as I thought about it I felt that it didn't have to be an 'either-or' situation where we want to see the new year in or the old year leave. It could be a 'both-and' situation where we could see possibilities in the New Year as well as be glad that the old year is ending. Maybe that's where you are – looking ahead to a new 2011.
How and in what frame of mind do we look forward to 2011? By the end of this week, 2010 is going to be history. Friday night will bring the curtains down on this year. Saturday will be the 1st January 2011.
Jay Goltz who wrote an article in 2009 on 'Thoughts on the End of A very Long Year' says "One of the secrets to surviving and thriving in business is to have resolve. It's the ability to make things happen, to push back, to overcome obstacles, to hit the refresh button. Resolve is necessary and productive. It gets successful businesses through difficult times."
Thinking about resolve, I realized that resolve ends at the end of my abilities. I cannot resolve to do things beyond the abilities that I have or the contacts I have or the resources I have. My resolve can only challenge those areas within me. Thinking about that made me realize that I would love to have something beyond my own resolve to help me in the New Year.
For some of you who've been with us over the last year and a half that we've had Corporate CAPsules know that, as I've shared vignettes from my life, my life revolves around the things that God wants me to do. That's what I aim for and enjoy. That's what gives me my stability. Even as I look at resolve, and I agree with what Jay Goltz says, that you need that kind of resolve, I want to know that there is something beyond my capacity, beyond my ability and resources; someone who can go the extra mile for me.
This November I had the privilege of being invited to speak at a Businessmen's World Convention that was being held in Singapore. There were about 1000 delegates that came from 49 countries around the world. But the events that led up to that convention were absolutely mind-blowing. I had thought that I would wait till October to get my visa for Singapore. The person who was in charge of the Bombay unit called me and said that my passport expired in March, only 4-5 months away and I needed a passport that was valid for 6 months. I sat up, wondering what to do. I needed that visa immediately. And even beyond getting the visa, I now needed to get a fresh passport. I had barely any time.
I decided to contact people to see what I could do. The passport went in on a Monday and I thought that there was no way that I could trust the system at that point. The only thing was to ask God to be over the entire situation. I had been invited to speak at this seminar in 2008, almost 2 years before. No way could I call them up and say that I didn't have a visa because my passport had expired. It was genuine; I hadn't forgotten it. I prayed telling God that He had to show up and help me through this situation. People around me told me that it was a tight call, things didn't happen like this. My passport went in on Monday, they sent it out on Thursday and I got it on Friday. The embassy was closed for the weekend. It went in on Monday for the visa and I got it on Tuesday at 5 pm. My flight out was at 11 pm. That's when I realized that beyond the ability and the resolve to do things; we need to have God in our corner as well, helping to do those things that we cannot do.
Even beyond that visa, I got on that flight and 3½ hours after that, I had high fever with rigors. I got to the hotel and all I could do was climb into bed and lie down under a blanket. My talk was scheduled for the next morning at 9 am. Took 2 Crocins, felt a bit better and then 2 hours later, had high fever again. I prayed and told God that I needed to be able to speak. That night God touched me and I was able to speak at the conference with no problem.
That's what I'm talking about, my friends. For us to walk confidently into a new year means we have to trust somebody beyond ourselves, somebody who has far greater resources than you or I have somebody who is able to do things beyond what you or I can imagine.
Martin Luther King said, "I'm so happy that God didn't say 'Like your enemy', because there are some people whom I find quite difficult to like. Liking is an affectionate emotion and I can't like anybody who would bomb my home, exploit me, trample over me with injustices or threatens to kill me both day in and day out. But Jesus reminds us that love is greater than liking. Love is understanding, creative, redemptive, goodwill toward all men. Theologians would say that it is the love of God operating in the human heart, and when you rise to love at this level, you love all men not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you; you love them because God loves them through you."
The impossible happens because God is able to work through you. It's more than what you can do; it's what God can do in you and through you. As I look at 2011 looming large before us, my prayer for all of us on this call is that we will be able to enter this new year with great confidence not just basing it on our own resolve, our own resources, our own abilities, but to have hope in somebody who far transcends all of that.
The dictionary meaning for 'hope' is:
- a wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment;
- something that is hoped for or desired;
- one that is a source or a reason for hope;
- The faith component in hope, the theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
I saw a sticker that said 'God is my Co-pilot' and I remember thinking that if God is my co-pilot, I'm in deep trouble. I don't want to be in the driver's seat. I would rather be the co-pilot. I pray that you would have that hope as you cross over into 2011.
Let me close with these words from the Bible: Psalm 121 "I look to the hills; where will I find help? It will come from the Lord who created the heaven and the earth. The Lord is your protector and he won't go to sleep or let you stumble. The Lord is your protector, there at your right side to shade you from the sun. You won't be harmed by the sun during the day or by the moon at night. The Lord will protect you and keep you safe from all dangers. The Lord will protect you now and always wherever you go."
I pray that you, dear friends, will keep your eyes on Him who is able to walk with you and let you do the things that are far beyond your resolve, your resources, your abilities and capabilities henceforth.
God Bless You All.
No comments:
Post a Comment