Who Have You Invited?

Who—or what—fuels you in your work, your beliefs, your mission?

My husband subscribes to the blog of Seth Godin, a leading marketer who always has such wonderful insights…not only as to how to get the work of our hands and hearts before the world, but which can usually be applied to life too.

In a recent post, Godin talks about what fuels our work, and how that will affect the work itself. Some of the examples he gives are spot-on. For instance, is our work a response to a fear—a reaction? Then what happens to our work when that fear abates? We have to always have some fear to fuel us.

Do we say we’re not interested in something but continue to track or measure or pay attention to it? Then soon it will start to matter.

Do you want to teach someone a lesson or prove them wrong? Then you always have to have an adversary to teach or defeat.

The examples above that Godin gives were about our work. But the moment I read them, I knew they were just as true in life. This struck me especially given this past election year. So much of politics is fearmongering, and so many of our votes are fueled by that fear. We say we have faith that God will provide but obsess over all the “things” we claim aren’t important. So many of the posts we see or make on social media are about proving other people wrong—not just in politics for that one, but in everything. We want to prove that this book I loved is worth reading. We want to prove that our faith has value. We want to prove that we’re right about pretty much everything.

When we let a response to something negative fuel us, we become trapped. Because in order to keep going, we need to keep that negative thing close. Time and again throughout history, we see what happens when people are only reacting to a negative. When they’re not for something so much as against something else. And on the flipside, we see what happens when instead, they’re given something to believe in.

Even that can take on monstrous form, as we see so clearly with Nazi Germany, for example. Hitler didn’t rise to power just because of the fearmongering (though there was plenty) or by unifying the people against an enemy (though he used that too). What really turned the tide was that he gave them something they could be for. In that case, a stronger Germany, a promise that they were a chosen race. He invited them to be part of something great.

And that can be intoxicating. Blinding.

What if, instead, the something we choose to be for is service? That’s what Godin ends his blog post with, because in our work, that’s one thing that will never go away and which doesn’t leave us empty. If we’re working to serve others, then we will always be fueled to continue, because people will always need that service. And that’s also the root of our faith.

Christ came to serve. He tells His disciples not to seek to lord over others, but to be their servant. He invites us to do the same.

It’s why I write, has always been why I write. Do I appreciate that it’s a career and make some decisions based on monetary needs? I do, yes. But even if the money stopped, I would still write. I wrote before I made a dime, I wrote when it cost me instead of paid me, and I will continue to write no matter what, as long as God fills my heart and mind with stories. I worked for years, pouring time and energy and money into figuring out how to get those books into the hands of readers, because I believed that this calling God had put on my heart was worth that sacrifice. Because I believed that books were a service, that the stories He gave me were for a purpose, that He could use them to touch other hearts and lives.

I cannot count the messages I’ve received this summer, as I went through cancer, from people thanking me for my faithfulness in sharing those words and stories. And each one reminded me of why it’s work worth doing, even when I’m tired. Even when I’m sick. Even when each page is a battle and I’m not so sure the words are coming out right. It’s worth it, because my calling hasn’t changed. Because God still wants to use me.

He still wants to use you too. Not to disprove or fan fear or react to some other negative. He wants to use you for something. To direct eyes upward, toward what is good and holy. He wants to use you to bring joy and hope.

But is that what we’ve invited along our journey? Are we walking with Him in faith and joy and hope…or are we walking beside fear and selfishness and naysaying? In this month of focusing on gratitude, let’s take a moment too to focus on the invisible companions in our life’s journey.

Who (or what) is walking beside you day by day? Is that the companion you want…or is to time to reframe, refocus, and serve?