That's A Lot

That’s A Lot

By Allen Edge

I just made fifty seven years old recently. Once again I am assessing my value, my contribution to society, and my all time favorite… my failures. Let the church say amen! I have no documented proof to substantiate my belief, but I believe that 99.99% of the human race desires to make a substantial impact in their relative worlds and affairs. There are some who measure their progress by how much money and property they have accumulated. Some use education as a measuring tool. While some mark their progress by how many cows and goats they have. It’s all relative. Speaking of relatives, we can’t help but mention the all time favorite success indicator of parents…how well did the off-spring marry? From childhood on humans tend to aspire to be and/or do more. Infants dream of the day when they will be able to crawl and then they aspire to walk and then run. Eventually the little fellows say the words that break many a parent’s hearts… “I can do it myself”. A moment of silence please.

Ok, I’m over it. Anyway you get the point. We humans have a need to succeed and achieve. It is, therefore, very important that our goals are accurate and clear. Nothing is more distressing than climbing the ladder of success and finding out when reaching the top that the ladder was leaning against the wrong building. If you agree with me that success is relative, then you must also agree that it is extremely important that people accurately identify their personal measuring tool. It is not unusual for some people to judge their progress based on someone else’s measuring paradigm and inevitably find themselves in perpetual failure and frustration. I believe that there is a God and that God created me and has a specific assignment for my life. I write from this perspective. I ain’t mad at you if you don’t believe, so don’t hate on me because I do. It is written: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) 

Since I believe that God has created me to perform a specific assignment, I am constantly asking Him for directions, corrections, and confirmations. Directions: What does He want me to do? How, When, Where, and for how long? Corrections: Please let me know when I am off course and how do I get back on? Confirmations: Lord please give me an AMEN when I’ve done it right. I have learned that life is like the launching of a spacecraft. The spacecraft does not go directly to its destination. Adjustments are made constantly from launch to landing.

It is a common practice among us humans to judge our progress by the final landing and not take into account the innumerable adjustments and their affects along the journey. On your way to becoming a medical doctor you may have been required to volunteer in a low-income neighborhood center. While there a child was influenced by your care and compassion and made a decision to become a doctor themselves. You may never know who that child was, but just being there was a lot. 

Like my sainted mother and grandmother who just finished high school and grammar school respectively, you may have never completed and never will complete a higher degree of education. You did, however, put two or three children through college as a result of your personal sacrifice. That’s a lot. You may not be an ordained minister trained in the greatest seminaries in the world, but you spend quality time on your knees agreeing with God Almighty, interceding for others and world issues as God directs and praying His will into the Earth as it is in Heaven. That’s a whole lot.

So as you assess your value and progress today, make sure you measure yourself right. If God is pleased with you, everybody else may as well be thrilled. If you are doing what God has assigned you to do in His timing and His way, that’s a lot.

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