A few years
ago I worked for the Centers of Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. I held two
different positions during my tenure there—Administrative Support Specialist
and Management and Program Analyst. The major portion of my duties as a
Management and Program Analyst were as Project Officer over one major contract
and then also over a couple of less significant contracts.
I was so
proud (yes, proud as in prideful) when I got that last job. It was a great
promotion for me—more money, more responsibility, more prestige; did I mention
more money? It was, if you will, the pinnacle of my success as a federal civil
servant.
It was also
a disaster! No, not the job—I did good work; my supervisor and the other higher-ups were pleased with my work. The disaster was from within me—that
time was a spiritual desert for me. I felt as though the spiritual rug had been
pulled out from under my feet. Why, had God turned His back on me? No, I had
strayed. I had become prideful and me-centric. I discovered that what I thought
I wanted so badly was not what I wanted at all.
May I just
tell you how grateful I am that we serve a loving God? He is the ultimate
Father who looks for us when we’ve gone astray; who runs out to greet us when
we finally return home, broken and defeated, (Luke 15); who lifts us out of the
mud and the muck; the One who is faithful to forgive us and to set our feet
once again upon solid ground and steadies us as we begin to walk again with Him,
anew and afresh, (Psalm 40:2). (Thank-you dear Lord for Your mercy; Your grace;
Your love; Your forgiveness!)
My life is
so completely different now. I have recommitted my life to Christ. I want to
serve Him; to work for Him and His Kingdom.
My
definition of success is no longer me-centered. In fact, something my pastor
shared with us Sunday night has refined my personal definition of success even
further. He told us that when he was in seminary someone asked a professor for his
definition of a successful church. The answer: a church that works for the glory of God, in
the name of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wow! I
thought that was a great answer. I’m no longer working for myself. I’m working
for the honor and glory of Almighty God, in the name of Jesus Christ, through
the power of the Holy Spirit. You can’t beat the job security and the rewards
are out of this world! Won’t you join me?
God bless!
