Inspired to write. If you are reading this Matt, Thanks! If I ever need inspiration to blog I go to www.fuquestions.com (the "fu" stands for "frequently unasked"... I think). One man's attempt to live in a way he never has before. Thanks again Matt! Usually funny, sometimes sad, always a touch sarcastic:)
Have you ever heard the story of the old bag lady? All those around her hardly knew she was there. The hunched over little old lady who dug around in trash cans and dumpsters looking for bottles, cans and partially eaten hamburgers. She wore tattered old clothes, smelled of the trash she daily perused, always mumbled incoherently to herself and overall, was someone who most people chose to vehemently avoid.
The day she died was a cold day that all have forgotten. Not a soul missed the old woman who shuffled from one garbage can to the next. Not a soul knew anything about her: what she liked, what she hated, what her dreams had been, what her favorite color was, or even what her name was. Upon finding her stiffened body surrounded by her beloved black garbage bags, a great surprise was to be revealed to all. Hidden within those torn old bags were the shocking details of her life... and fortune. She wasn't a simple, clueless, old bag lady, as presumed. In reality, she was the widow of a prominent businessman. After his death she had inherited stock options now worth millions. No one knew. No one cared.
One of the greatest lessons I am learning here in California is a key to revolutionizing my life and those around me. There is treasure all around us. Too often I have been the one who quickly judges those around me for what I perceive to be their faults. Then I interact with them out of my convoluted mindset. I would continually allow a person's struggles to overshadow the truth of who they truly were.
What if David had rebuked and scorned the rabble of men that came to his side to fight with and for him. They were the discontent, disheartened and outcasts. They were men who were struggling with their identities. If he had shunned them we would never have the "mighty men of valor," whose hair raising exploits inspired millions. They were men whose loyalty to David, in word and deed, is unsurpassed to this day! Yet these were the same who fearfully hid in caves, had made bad life choices, hated themselves and were loyal to no man before David. They were screwed up, but he called out their true identities. David was a treasure hunter.
How about the man Jesus chose to lead His church! Simon called Peter. A man who was emotionally unstable and prone to outbursts that were almost deadly, IE. the soldier's ear in the garden. You don't think he was actually aiming for his ear do you!? He missed his intended target, the head of that poor boy! He was rash and unpredictable, and even denied the man He had faithfully followed for over 3 years. He had come to a realization that he never truly understood Jesus' message. This is the same man who's name was changed to "Peter," the "rock," by Jesus. The same man upon whom our Christian church was founded. Jesus called an unstable man to be a solid foundation?! CRAZY! Jesus saw the truth of who Peter was and called it out! Jesus spoke to the treasure and chose to focus on it rather than the mud in which it was buried!
Before we can change others we must first look to Jesus so we can see the treasure within us! Too often we demean the beautiful artwork that God has crafted. In false humility we unintentionally throw mud all over what He has made! Say to yourself, "I am His masterpiece and He loves what He has done"... Now, BELIEVE IT! If we focus on the mud (our inabilities and weaknesses), mud is all we will ever be, and what a great injustice we have done to our Father! Fight the lies against who you are! Call out the greatness and treasure that is surely inside of you!
Ask God how He sees you. I promise you, He wants you to know! Write it down. Speak it to yourself everyday. What you set before your eyes you will become!
Once you are able to see yourself as God sees you, then seeing the treasure in others and calling it out will become second nature.
If you want to change lives stop flinging mud and start digging for treasure!
