Throughout history, perilous events have occurred that later historians have labelled as "defining moments" in either a person or an entity's makeup. Winston Churchill's "Never Give Up" rallying cry to the people of Great Britain as the German Blitzkrieg barreled on towards their tiny island country or, Abraham Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address setting his resolve to secure the union of the United States serve as grand examples. Or a defining moment might take on the complexion of the story of Christopher Reeves (Superman), who after being left paralyzed from the neck down from a horseback accident, went on to prove that indeed he was a true "super man". The list goes on and on, men women, countries, movements, this world is full of examples of overcoming adversity and thus defining their place in history. What I would like for us to focus on today isn't necessarily the defining moment of when the cast was set, but more of the "re-fining" that takes place during the event before the person de-fines themselves in this world as an overcomer extraordinaire.
Before a person can experience a defining moment in their lives they must first work through the refining process. Let me expand on that idea for a minute with an example. Something bad happens, well isn't that just life? We all experience adversity, but it is what happens after the adverse situation that dictates whether the event will define us or if we will take what life has handed us and work in it and through it to come out on the other side stronger than we were before the adversity ever struck. If we allow the trials and tribulations of this life to define us then that opens the door for failure to creep in. We become the product of adversity and we become something else than what we were created for. I believe that God didn't create us to fail, but He did give us free will, and unfortunately if we choose to accept the outcomes of adversity as just the way it is, then we accept defeat and that defeat may very well de-fine us as a failure. The annals of history are clear, God did not create us to succumb to challenges that stand in our way of fulfilling God's preplanned purpose for the life He created you and I to live out. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." II Timothy 1:7. We were not created to be timid or fearful when adversity lands in our lap, in this letter Paul was writing to Timothy exhorting him to be courageous in the face of persecution and to use the power which God had planted in his heart to move forward and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. The parable of the servants and the talents serves as a testament to the concept of a de-fining moment in lives of three servants.
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus shares the well known parable of the three servants who were given large sums of wealth, talents, by their master to oversee his wealth. The first servant was given five talents and earned five more talents. The second servant received two talents and after investing his master's wealth he doubled his master's two talents. The work that these two servants did to double their master's wealth is what can be labelled as their re-fining moment. They took a situation that held a 50/50 shot of being successful and through educated decisions and a committed work ethic they moved from being re-fined to a place of being de-fined upon their master's return. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." Matthew 25:21. These two men had a choice, they could take this as an opportunity to establish themselves as trustworthy and honorable, or they could have taken the route that the third servant chose which did not serve as a refining moment in his life.
The third servant in our parable, made the decision to not enter into a phase of refinement when given this opportunity to excel. The third servant was given one talent. Modest in comparison to either of the other two servants, yet still an opportunity to refine and ultimately define his role in the master's mind. The third servant made the decision to basically dig a hole and hide the master's talent, because he was afraid that he might lose his master's wealth that had been entrusted to him. Remember from the scripture above (II Timothy 1:7), God did not and does not give us a spirit of fear, instead God equips us with power and self-discipline through which the servant should have placed his trust and went out and invested his master's wealth. That spirit of timidity prohibited the growth that the servant needed to re-fine him from being timid to be strong and courageous, just as God encouraged Joshua as he accepted his role after the death of Moses (Joshua 1:9). Instead, his decision to not accept even a small amount of risk, defined this servant as a man who failed miserably in a situation where he could have de-fined himself as a worthy and trustworthy servant. Instead the master retorted, "You wicked and slothful servant!" Inadvertently, the third servant labelled himself as "not up to the challenge" thus defining himself to his master and others as a failure.
What adversity are you facing today that may very well be your opportunity to re-fine yourself to become the man or woman God wants to de-fine you as in His Kingdom? Ask yourself the question, "will this adversity define me or will I take this adversity, work in it and allow God to work through me to the point that I refine myself as a servant that will not give up nor ever give in! You've got this. "For when I am weak, then I am made strong." II Corinthians 12:10.
Choose to be re-fined so that you will be de-fined!
Coach Carter
No comments:
Post a Comment