Made For Greatness

What kind of person do you want to be? Some might say successful, others, happy, and yet others might say fulfilled. These are all beautiful answers and all have their individual values but none of them paint the whole picture. We have all been created with dignity and an intrinsic value that God wants more for you then just happiness or success. God has created you for greatness! So what is greatness? Is it being the CEO of some Fortune 500 company? Possibly. What about becoming an international speaker? Maybe. What about just being a father working a regular job? The beautiful thing about greatness is that it can be anything so long as we are following the will of God in our lives. We all have different gifts, talents and callings in life and yet everything we do is in service of our neighbor and the living Church, known as the Mystical Body of Christ. If you are anything like me, we can sometimes find ourselves bargaining with God. We say things like, “if You would do this for me then I will be able to do this for You.” I have noticed in the past year how often this has been my response to situations in my life in both good times and bad, but through self introspection I’ve come to see how selfish a desire that is. You see, God never leaves us on our own but He gives us countless opportunities to show just how much we love Him and how much faith we have in His ways versus our own. Our view from our own eyes can become cloudy and fogged as we travel over the, often times, windy path to follow in the footsteps of Christ. This fog can be from our own lack of faith, our own selfish desires, or it can be placed by the evil one – satan. I feel satan is often behind these selfish prayers of ours when we bargain with God. There is hope for us “bargainers” though. You see, once we become aware of what we are doing we can convert our prayers to allow God to transform our hearts and to help us transform that fog into a beautiful light. We must examine our motives behind the desires we pray for and if they contain selfish thoughts we must ask for those motives to be purified. While, what we may pray for in their own right might be something true, good, and beautiful, if our intentions are selfish in nature then we can poison those desires – and this is exactly what satan wants of us. Next time you find yourself bargaining in prayer, even for something good, ask God to purify your intentions and to show you the true meaning of what you are asking. Regardless of the response that He gives you, it is all because He loves you and has made you for greatness. He calls you to the journey, but it is your decision to take the first step.

 


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