We
all have something in our lives, something of which we know we need more. Ask
anyone and I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you all about what they need and
want more in their lives. I know I’m no different; I need more motivation; I
need more self-discipline; I need more positive thinking, etc. But focusing on
my lacks, my insufficiencies, has never gotten me anywhere and has never made
me a happier, more productive person. My pastor could probably testify to that
fact with no problem... but he would most likely regale you with many of my finest
features as well. And THAT’s what I want to talk about here.
Do
you know the story about the widow woman who, during a time of drought, had
only one handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse to feed
herself and her son? It is found in 1Kings Ch. 17. Elijah came to her as he was
commanded by the Lord to do, and she fed him from her meager remaining reserves.
God blessed her for giving what she had, even if it was only a little, and her
barrel and cruse were never empty. Quite mysteriously, there was always one
handful of meal left in the barrel and a little oil remaining in the cruse for
the widow woman to make bread, and this miracle lasted until the drought was
over and God brought the rain.
The
Bible uses vessels to symbolically represent people – in fact, I can’t think of
a single time it doesn’t. In this particular story, there was only ever a
handful of meal left in the barrel and a little oil remaining in the cruse, but
it was always there, ready to be made into dinner. I find that this represents
me very well. I often don’t feel like I have much to offer, but the truth of the
matter is that as long as I know God has blessed it – and I do know that I
possess undeniably God-given talents – then I can rest assured that every
single day I will be able to “make my cake and eat it too,” no matter how meager it may seem to the natural eye.
One
of the most fundamental lessons in the Bible is committing your thoughts to
good things, as it says to do in Philippians 4:8. Too often, a person,
especially a person as prone to melancholy as I am, can get distracted by all
that emptiness/nothingness in their “barrel,” and forget that what they do have
is quite adequate. There is also a lot of contention that arises when people
start thinking things like “Why can’t I be more like that person?” or “Why can’t
that person be more like me?” The very simple reason is that they’re not you;
every person is different. The Bible refers to there being many different kinds
of vessels: there are vessels made of gold, silver, wood, or clay, vessels that
contain flour, grain, oil, olives, cashews, raisins, chocolate chips, or
mini-marshmallows. And there are just as many different kinds of people as
there are different kinds of vessels, probably more. It is vital to remember
what you have, rather than focusing on what you don’t, and also to not condemn
others for not having the same things that you have. That’s what God made when
He made us, and God doesn’t make mistakes.
Remember
to train yourself – and others, if such is your burden – with positive
reinforcement. The Bible gives this lesson, in a few different places, to not give
“evil for evil” which means, in more technical terms, “positive punishment” the
definition of which is awarding wrong behavior with a punishment to discourage
it from happening again – it is often confused with “negative reinforcement.” We,
as humans, often feel we have the right to wrong someone who has wronged us, to
punish those who do not do as we want, and to scorn or judge those who make
mistakes and fail. This could not be further from the truth. Now, obviously,
people still need to be taught that there are negative consequences for their misbehavior,
but even in this, the way we need to approach such discipline is through love. Fear
is a powerful motivator and it is fear in which a person lives that has been
taught through “positive punishment.” But fear only motivates people to be
their worst, depending on what they’ve been trained to fear. Love is also a
motivator, a much more powerful one. Love is, in fact, the opposite of fear.
And as fear motivates people to run from their problems, and hide, and sin in
secret, love motivates people to live life to the fullest: happy, productive,
honest, considerate, bold, and hopeful.
So
if you think that you can only accomplish a small amount today, don’t
underestimate yourself, and if you think you should have done more, pray for
God to help you tomorrow and don’t beat yourself up. The simplest and
surprisingly easiest thing to do to solve such dilemmas is to learn to love yourself
and others. Loving others is especially effective because what goes around
comes around; you reap what you sow; for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction.
One
last thing; some people have a hard time communicating what they feel to others
– I know I really struggle with this one – since too often what we feel seems
very negative, but emotions are an integral part of human relationships as well
as this thing we call love, obviously. However hard it may seem, you need to
know how a person – even your own self – feels if you are going to love them
properly, because all people are different, remember. So even if it requires
dragging it out of someone, never not know how they feel. Then you can reward
their honesty – remember “positive reinforcement” – and your relationship will
grow stronger. The vast majority of true happiness and productivity hinges
directly on relationships, so don’t neglect them.
Well,
that’s all I wanted to say. I hope you were able to get something useful out of
that. If you weren’t, you could try reading it again. Nevertheless, God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment