Living a Life of Influence
It was really bad this time. At first it came as rain. Then it turned into freezing rain, then into sleet. It accumulated on the bridges and roads at an alarming rate.
An ice storm.
The folks in town weren’t used to driving in it and many people ended up getting stuck out on the roads.
It lasted for days.
The department of transportation sent out sanding trucks, but that just seemed to make the ice thicker when it refroze overnight because all it did was create ruts and potholes inches deep.
All the news channels showed dozens and dozens of trucks and cars stuck out on the highways and bridges unable to move.
Meteorologists on television even called it “moguls for cars”, although the technical term was cobblestone ice.
Cobblestone ice. Just like the name…bumps, ruts, almost impossible to move on. And many people didn’t. They couldn’t. Not on ice.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians 3:20-21
It’s happened to me, and it’s awful. You can hardly move. And it lasts a long time! Even after the sun comes out, those ruts and potholes take forever to melt. Not to mention the beating it gives to your tires and suspension. I remember seeing on the news, trucks that were stuck for days because they couldn’t move. Then there’s the fact that it’s ice. And there’s no fast movement on that.
No traction.
I read something else about that recently.
“You can’t get any traction, if your feet are propped up.”
Life is about moving forward. There are certain turning points in our lives where we move forward simply because we know that is what God is telling us to do. The road ahead may be uncertain, challenging, even dangerous; however, if God says go, the blessing follows the step of obedience.
But it’s not about the blessing, it’s about the obedience. It’s not about us. It’s all about God. So, what will it take for you to move forward? For me to move forward? Above all, I know that I cannot live life as an insecure, anxious and worrisome child of God. I must rest in God’s powerful and loving arms, knowing that His will is best, His love is secure, and His plans are good. I must believe God for the supernatural. To believe what He’s calling me to right now, and be willing to step forward and follow Him even though it’s so doggone scary!
To believe that He will not supply us with what we need, to do the very thing He calls us to, is completely insane.
We have to decide, make a decision, to get in the game, give it our all, and leave our mark. To leave a legacy. And we all leave one. We either do it by default, or on purpose. Just don’t get distracted by the impossible. Focus. Because we serve a God who says “all things are possible for one who believes”.
You have influence. Even if you don’t think you do, you do. There is someone who is watching you. Maybe several someones. Do you know how you can be influential?
Influential leaders in the kingdom of God have a different spirit about them; they are servant leaders who follow God fully and faithfully.
Be a Caleb. Be a Joshua. All God is looking for is a willing heart, and the courage to take the first step. Do you know how many times God told Joshua to “be strong and courageous”? Three times! When God commissions Joshua to take the Israelites to the promised land, He tells him three times to be strong and courageous. That tells me that Joshua must have needed it! Read Joshua 1:1-9 sometime and see the encouragement and reassurance that Joshua gets from his Lord.
We have that same Lord! The same encouragement. The same reassurance. The same presence of the same God who has the same miraculous power.
Dear Father. It’s hard for me to think that I have any influence on anyone. But help me to always remember that there is always someone watching and that I have influence that I don’t even know about. Help me to be a Caleb or a Joshua. Give me the strength and courage to live a life of influence each and every day. Amen.
