On Fear of Success
I have watched the entirety of the movie Finding Forrester many times for the closing scene. For me, the climax of the movie is not necessarily where the producer meant for it to be but in an often-enough quoted portion of a letter William Forrester wrote to his young friend, read as the movie is drawing to a close: "We walk away from our dreams, afraid we may fail, or worse yet… afraid we may succeed."
This line strikes me deep to my core. I am afraid of all I am capable of - of the hurt I am able to cause to others, and, even more so, of the good I can do. It is too easy to be content living a mediocre life, a luke-warm faith. But I must attempt to live outside of mediocrity, outside of my comfort zone, and follow my deep desires and the whispers in my soul that I believe must be coming from God. Life is so busy that it is often exhausting just getting through each day, especially when juggling a job, children, a marriage, prayer time (which, unfortunately, is all too often pushed to the back burner), as well as friendships, extended family, and my own sanity. I most often have no energy left to take that step. And what if God asks too much of me? I feel I am doing all I am capable of right now, and yet I feel a strong desire to do more.
But we are capable of so much. We have so many God-given talents, and God has a plan for us appropriate to those gifts He has given us. Often, those gifts and talents are so buried under years of "junk" or are under-developed. Often we underestimate our talents and sell ourselves short. Other times, we are so busy that all we can do is to try to keep up with our lives. Yet, we cannot imagine what God can do with those gifts if we allow Him to. We cannot fathom what He can do with our lives if we open ourselves to Him and to His Will.
Since this grace, this ability to do great things with our talents and our lives, is not of us, we cannot plan what may come of our "yes." In the same way, Gabriel's message for Mary from God inviting her to be the mother of our Lord must have given her some clue as to the extra-ordinariness of her life and the life of her Son, she could not have known fully the result of her "yes" or how wide-spread of the effects of that "yes" would become. She simply had faith in God and trusted His wisdom and promises, saying, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done unto me according to thy word." She did not question His wisdom or power or ask how that would affect her life or where it would lead her; she simply gave herself to God with trust that He would provide. We must each do the same.
God does have a plan for our lives; He wants us to do incredible things, even if seemingly small things within the context of the lives we are living. For us, though, the invitation most likely will not come from an angel appearing before us, but from quiet whispers within our hearts. We must quiet ourselves, even within our busy lives, to hear those whispers and give ourselves to God in faith daily, even when we cannot make out those whispers or when God seems to be moving too slowly. We may never know the full result of our "yes," but we will see at least parts of it. We have nothing to fear in stepping out, for, if we do so in faith, God will take care of us. He will use the talents He has given us for His glory and teach us to walk in His beautiful light. As with Mary and Joseph, there may be difficulties and suffering, but God will be with us through everything and will help us to persevere. So we must not walk away from the dreams God has planted within us and the whispers in our hearts, but instead trust in God's Grace and His Will and allow Him to create beauty within us and through us.
Blessings,
Kim
This line strikes me deep to my core. I am afraid of all I am capable of - of the hurt I am able to cause to others, and, even more so, of the good I can do. It is too easy to be content living a mediocre life, a luke-warm faith. But I must attempt to live outside of mediocrity, outside of my comfort zone, and follow my deep desires and the whispers in my soul that I believe must be coming from God. Life is so busy that it is often exhausting just getting through each day, especially when juggling a job, children, a marriage, prayer time (which, unfortunately, is all too often pushed to the back burner), as well as friendships, extended family, and my own sanity. I most often have no energy left to take that step. And what if God asks too much of me? I feel I am doing all I am capable of right now, and yet I feel a strong desire to do more.
But we are capable of so much. We have so many God-given talents, and God has a plan for us appropriate to those gifts He has given us. Often, those gifts and talents are so buried under years of "junk" or are under-developed. Often we underestimate our talents and sell ourselves short. Other times, we are so busy that all we can do is to try to keep up with our lives. Yet, we cannot imagine what God can do with those gifts if we allow Him to. We cannot fathom what He can do with our lives if we open ourselves to Him and to His Will.
Since this grace, this ability to do great things with our talents and our lives, is not of us, we cannot plan what may come of our "yes." In the same way, Gabriel's message for Mary from God inviting her to be the mother of our Lord must have given her some clue as to the extra-ordinariness of her life and the life of her Son, she could not have known fully the result of her "yes" or how wide-spread of the effects of that "yes" would become. She simply had faith in God and trusted His wisdom and promises, saying, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done unto me according to thy word." She did not question His wisdom or power or ask how that would affect her life or where it would lead her; she simply gave herself to God with trust that He would provide. We must each do the same.
God does have a plan for our lives; He wants us to do incredible things, even if seemingly small things within the context of the lives we are living. For us, though, the invitation most likely will not come from an angel appearing before us, but from quiet whispers within our hearts. We must quiet ourselves, even within our busy lives, to hear those whispers and give ourselves to God in faith daily, even when we cannot make out those whispers or when God seems to be moving too slowly. We may never know the full result of our "yes," but we will see at least parts of it. We have nothing to fear in stepping out, for, if we do so in faith, God will take care of us. He will use the talents He has given us for His glory and teach us to walk in His beautiful light. As with Mary and Joseph, there may be difficulties and suffering, but God will be with us through everything and will help us to persevere. So we must not walk away from the dreams God has planted within us and the whispers in our hearts, but instead trust in God's Grace and His Will and allow Him to create beauty within us and through us.
Blessings,
Kim
Comments
Blessings,
Kim