(This went out to club members today & I couldn't help myself. I was so fired up after reading it that I had to put it out to everybody else. Is is cheesy that I got myself all excited by reading my OWN Daily DifferenceMaker? YEP! But I think you'll get fired up, too, so here you go...)
"I think we may safely trust a good deal more than we do."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
American Author & Poet
When my dad was the Senior Pastor of the largest Southern Baptist Church in Columbus, Georgia (which is akin to being Valedictorian of Alternative School), I recall a time when we were embarking on a capital campaign for a building program.
The consultant hired by the church asked my dad to help think of a campaign slogan; something catchy & motivating that would inspire the people and encourage them to give.
Dad's response was vintage Brad Hicks. "We're going to trust God & trust the people," he said.
The consultant was elated. "Trust God, Trust the People. What a GREAT slogan!"
My dad was perplexed. "It's not a slogan," he said, "It's what we do here. It's what we've always done."
Trusting God & trusting ourselves was how we relocated a church with 113 committed givers and grew to 4,000 members. In short, it was how we created a new world for Wynnbrook Baptist Church and the Columbus area.
I'm convinced that you and I are no different than that church body. We have a dream - a vision - for a world we believe we were put here to create.
Some of us believe that God gave us our vision of that new world, and thus we must trust Him to help us see it to fruition.
But whether or not you believe your new world was God-breathed, we all have this in common: There will come a point when you will have to trust yourself.
Well, Heck.
That was a nice story until I had to bring up trusting yourself, huh?
I'll never forget a fellow minister inquiring of my dad about his philosophy.
He said, "I can trust God alright, but I ain't so sure about trustin' these folks here..."
And that's our problem, isn't it?
We don't trust ourselves because we know ourselves... intimately.
We know our history;
We know our weaknesses;
We know our fears & our foibles;
And perhaps most debilitating of all,
we know our self-doubt.
When you know all that, it's hard to trust, isn't it?
I mean, who would get out of the security of the boat - and risk drowning - on the off chance that this idiot will actually walk on water?
It's just too risky.
Or is it?
See, here's what else you know about you: You know what you're capable of doing.
You know that you're capable of making one decision each day that will make your new world an astounding reality.
You know you're capable of making one more call, asking one more time, playing one more game, helping with one more chore, answering one more question, listening to one more story.
You know that what you're capable of doing is endless!
And that you're capable of doing it again tomorrow, and the next day and the next day, because you also know
it's not the decision & day, it's the cumulative effect of all those decisions & all those days.
And when you know those things about yourself, you can trust yourself like you never knew you could!
So as you endeavor to create your new world this Thursday, Trust God & Trust Yourself.
And trust me...
you'll Astound Yourself Today!
The consultant hired by the church asked my dad to help think of a campaign slogan; something catchy & motivating that would inspire the people and encourage them to give.
Dad's response was vintage Brad Hicks. "We're going to trust God & trust the people," he said.
The consultant was elated. "Trust God, Trust the People. What a GREAT slogan!"
My dad was perplexed. "It's not a slogan," he said, "It's what we do here. It's what we've always done."
Trusting God & trusting ourselves was how we relocated a church with 113 committed givers and grew to 4,000 members. In short, it was how we created a new world for Wynnbrook Baptist Church and the Columbus area.
I'm convinced that you and I are no different than that church body. We have a dream - a vision - for a world we believe we were put here to create.
Some of us believe that God gave us our vision of that new world, and thus we must trust Him to help us see it to fruition.
But whether or not you believe your new world was God-breathed, we all have this in common: There will come a point when you will have to trust yourself.
Well, Heck.
That was a nice story until I had to bring up trusting yourself, huh?
I'll never forget a fellow minister inquiring of my dad about his philosophy.
He said, "I can trust God alright, but I ain't so sure about trustin' these folks here..."
And that's our problem, isn't it?
We don't trust ourselves because we know ourselves... intimately.
We know our history;
We know our weaknesses;
We know our fears & our foibles;
And perhaps most debilitating of all,
we know our self-doubt.
When you know all that, it's hard to trust, isn't it?
I mean, who would get out of the security of the boat - and risk drowning - on the off chance that this idiot will actually walk on water?
It's just too risky.
Or is it?
See, here's what else you know about you: You know what you're capable of doing.
You know that you're capable of making one decision each day that will make your new world an astounding reality.
You know you're capable of making one more call, asking one more time, playing one more game, helping with one more chore, answering one more question, listening to one more story.
You know that what you're capable of doing is endless!
And that you're capable of doing it again tomorrow, and the next day and the next day, because you also know
it's not the decision & day, it's the cumulative effect of all those decisions & all those days.
And when you know those things about yourself, you can trust yourself like you never knew you could!
So as you endeavor to create your new world this Thursday, Trust God & Trust Yourself.
And trust me...
you'll Astound Yourself Today!
Brian
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