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Henri Nouwen encouraged me the other day with these words. I thought I would share them.
"There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness."
This speaks to me as a pastor. We can so easily believe the lie that our success comes from our most polished sermon, our best program, our fanciest suit, and hottest worship band. When in fact the opposite is true. Often our greatest fruit emerges when we least expect it; when in fact we are at our worst, when we feel the least and the smallest in the company of giants. That's when God seems to shine the greatest, when we are the smallest. Let me leave you with this thought.
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Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossiper, Joseph was a bragger, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sarah was faithless, Mark was a momma's boy, Elijah was depressed, Judah was a "john", Moses stuttered, Zaccheus was greedy, Abraham and Isaac were liars, Samuel was a child, and Lazarus was dead!
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the Called!
"We ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God and not from ourselves."
2 Corinthians 4:7
