It’s 2013! How much closer are you to your dreams this very moment than you were this time last year? Find out what it takes to not only put your visions and dreams into action, but find out what it takes to make them fully come alive by the end of the year. Put a date on it. If it doesn’t have a birth date, it doesn’t exist. Maybe you need to make a phone call. Maybe all it takes is starting a new blog. Some people need to print business cards, promo cards and design a website to get going. Do whatever it takes to get your dreams in action this season. When someone is coming to get you for an event and they’re running late, you may call and ask, “What’s your ETA (estimated time of arrival)?” So I ask you, what is the ETA for your business? What is the ETA for your book? What is the ETA for your dream to become a reality? Put things into action and move forward. The time is now.
It’s 2013. If I haven’t spoken to you personally, Happy New Year! If you’re still reading this, I am sure you had your share of challenges in 2012. The year is only nine days in and if you are anything like me, you’ve encountered some type of storm already. Yes, already. I’m reminded of the story in the bible where a storm came while Jesus and his disciples were in a boat. The familiar passage is below.
Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him. Suddenly a fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. But Jesus was asleep. The disciples went to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord!” they said. “We are about to die!”
“Why are you so frightened?” Jesus answered. “What little faith you have!” Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and there was a great calm.
Many things in this passage stand out to me. The first thing is that Jesus was in the boat with them. Though we can’t see Him, He is with us too in every boat we hop into. Secondly, a storm hit the boat and it was in DANGER of sinking. It doesn’t say that it sank. It just says it was in danger, or at risk, of sinking. We know that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. So even though you may look like you are in danger of sinking, hold on. Help is on the way. Weapons may form, but they won’t prosper. Third, it says a storm hit the boat, but Jesus was sleep! LOL! I had to stop right there. That means nothing shakes Him, nothing moves Him, He is not taken aback or surprised. He is always at a state of rest. He knows He is in control of all things, even the storm you don’t see how you’re coming out of. Yes, even this. He is still cool, calm and resting. Fourth, the disciples woke Him up and said save us, we’re about to die. Now, be real. How many times are we in situations that we truly believe will kill us? It feels like we are not coming out? It feels like this will be this way always. But even still, Jesus is still cool. He even asks them a rhetorical question of why they were so frightened. He didn’t wait for an answer. He already knew. In other words, He was telling them to increase their faith beyond what it looks like. All power belongs to God. So if you’re on a boat where Jesus is, and He is cool, you should be cool.
Today, I don’t know where you are. I don’t know the storms that have hit your home, your finances, your family. But I can only trust all of the Word of God, or none of it. Do not be frightened. Increase your faith. Rest in the fact that God says it’s all working for your good in the end, even if you can’t see it now. So…just be cool.
This past weekend, I traveled to Peoria, IL for a speaking engagement. While en route, I received a text message from a coworker that my seat was being moved–from the middle of the floor into my own office. I had been asking and praying for this for month’s since I have worked at this job. Then, when we got to the hotel in Peoria, the man at the front desk told us he was upgrading us to a 2-bedroom, 2-bath suite with a full kitchen. We didn’t ask for it nor did we pay any extra for it.
The thing I love about God is that he goes above and beyond our thoughts and our asking of Him. Today I pray that God would upgrade some things in your life. Upgrade your finances. Upgrade your faith. Upgrade your health. Upgrade your business. Two things are for certain: When you upgrade, you are no longer on the same level as you once were and you have to go back and dream, pray or even ask for something different.
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We all have some measure of faith. There are just some things we expect to happen or work a certain way because of the way they are created. If you sit in a chair, you expect it to hold you up. You don’t expect it to break. When you walk on the concrete, you expect to walk on solid ground. You don’t expect it to crumble or buckle, allowing you to fall through the earth. Every morning, we get up and attempt to start our cars and start our day. Now granted there are days when the “check engine” light comes on and we either take it to a dealership or if you’re like me, you call your husband! But we know there is something wrong that we can’t fix so we have to take it to higher authority. Not only do we take it to higher authority, but we take it to someone we are more than certain can handle the task at hand. We don’t call them and ask them if they can fix it. We more than likely ask when and how much it will be to get the problem fixed, but we usually tell them we need them to fix it.
If you’ve lived any length of time, you have encountered hard times, hardships and times of uncertainty. But even in times when your spiritual “check engine” light comes on, remember to give it to the proper authority. Not everybody can fix the problem at hand, but there is always The One who can fix all problems. It may not be in your timing, and it may cost you tremendously. But He is more than well able to fix the problem with your “check engine” light. He may have to tow you through some things. He may have to perform a diagnostic on you to see exactly where the problem is. He may even have to change some “parts” in order to get you back running to optimum performance. But one thing is certain: You will be back up and running smoothly soon. In the meantime, wait patiently in the customer waiting room.
No one promised that life would be perfect or that challenges would never come. But if you ever find yourself struggling to appreciate YOUR blessings, then try living without them–and PRAY for God’s continued guidance, grace & mercy. BE GRATEFUL. Enough said.
For more information on Mark’s debut book, The Gospel According to Mark, please email him at pippen.mark@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter at MarkLPippen. Also connect with him on Facebook at Mark L. Pippen.
You are Blessed with “Free Will” — but PROCEED WITH CAUTION. DON’T ABUSE IT OR MISUSE IT. It’s unfortunate (but simply true) that some children must repeatedly get burned BY THEIR OWN STUBBORNNESS in order to learn. Are you one of those? Experience is an excellent teacher. But it’s foolish to seek to blame someone else for the consequences of your poor choices and decisions. We have the ability to learn from those whom we respect. But guidance is only useful where discipline, discernment and obedience are also present. The Father is talking to you. ARE YOU LISTENING?
For more information on Mark’s debut book, The Gospel According to Mark, please email him at pippen.mark@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter at MarkLPippen. Also connect with him on Facebook at Mark L. Pippen.
I’m simply amazed at the opportunities that have been presented to me within the last month. A few weeks ago, I received a call from a minister in Peoria, IL who saw one of my Facebook posts. She has never met me, but yet she picked up the phone and called and asked me to speak to women of domestic violence at an upcoming conference just because she saw the front cover of my book. She has not read the book, but she said that it seems like something these women need. If you have a copy of my debut book, you know that there is a simple street sign with an arrow pointing upward, saying “ENCOURAGEMENT Next Exit”. Now even though I have not been a victim of domestic violence, I believe there still is a purpose for me being chosen to speak to these women. I could have easily declined, just because in our limited minds, sometimes we feel we don’t qualify. But I beg to differ.
Maybe you were asked to do something and you turned it down because you felt like you didn’t qualify or meet the need. I ask you to take the limits off. Live life as though you are speeding down a San Francisco street on your bike with no brakes! Full speed ahead. Be open to being used in other venues and/or markets where you may not normally trod. The sky is not the limit. To infinity and beyond, whatever it is that you do well or you feel you are called to do, put the pedal to the medal. Ready, set, GO!
So every once in a while, I run into something that reminds me why it is always important to remain humble. Last week, a past client of mine told me that her book had received negative feedback from several nationally syndicated radio shows. More specifically, one radio show told her flat out, “It was poorly edited.” Hold up! Wait a minute! Stop the presses! That would be a direct blow to me, not the author. I was flabbergasted, floored, and totally disturbed! I asked her to give me a copy of the finished product. When I looked at the manuscript, it wasn’t so much that she had spelling or grammatical errors, but that she had broken some rules in the writing industry that made her book look like it had not been professionally edited. For example, she wanted some words uppercase in the middle of sentences, she wanted some things bold, and even wanted some things bold, italicized and capitalized! Now as an editor, I edit, but at the end of the day, I have to give the authors what they ask for. She wanted these things this way for extra emphasis, so she said. But that had backfired on her, and me! But the words “poorly edited” are what stuck with me for a few days. I began to doubt that I should even be doing this. I began to second guess every other book that I had edited. This was the first time any of my clients had given me negative feedback so I was a tad fearful to even take another project at that point. I volunteered to re-edit the manuscript and this time, I am making the changes I know fall in line with the industry standards. If she wants to do something different after I send her the final this time around, I’m asking that she remove my name from the book as the editor.
Sometimes, the very thing that we love to do, have been doing for years and you know that you are called to do, will be tested and tried. And somewhere along the lines, your self-esteem and confidence may take a blow. It’s like being on a seesaw. At one point, you are sitting high. But as soon as someone comes and puts pressure on the other side, you are down. And this is a cycle that can continue for as long as you let it, until you choose to just get off the seesaw. Whatever you are doing, don’t quit. Don’t let other people’s negative comments and/or perceptions of what you do affect what you do. Hold your head up high. Dust yourself off. And keep it moving. There is work to be done and there is work that only you can do. Get off the seesaw and get to work!
