Appearances

I have been a firefighter and in the Navy. Both jobs required a semblance of physical aptitude. Heck, even my retail leadership jobs required a similar amount of energy at times. I listened to a gentleman mention something about Samson from the Bible. The scriptures never mention his physical appearance as far as muscle build goes. We see the stories of his feats. Defeating 1000 men with a donkey’s jawbone, tearing a lion apart with his bare hands, carrying off city gates and so on. Never a mention of his physique other than his hair. Nothing like the pictures of him when we see them. Samson got his strength and success from God. It was not his muscles or his strategic ability or his fighting skills, it was all due to God.

Can you think of people in your life that are crushing it but there is no fanfare, no attributes that point them out. They are just solid folks hitting it out of the park everyday. I have met several people like this in my career. They don’t seek the limelight, they keep their heads down and lead and influence. I worked with a lady like this in North Carolina. She was a good reminder to me of where my strength came from and who I was ultimately working for.

She was all about Jesus with everyone she came in contact with. I had worked in Christian retailing before this leading a Lifeway store. I thought I understood devotion and working for the Lord. She showed me where her strength came from. She was an older African American lady. A grandmother, oldschool, to say the least. Full of wisdom, a little extra hype about her faith that I had only encountered a few times before in my life. Her goal with work was not provision. Her goal was exposing people to the Lord. She prayed with employees,encouraged them and sought out the toughest one of the bunch for Christ. He was her mission. She treated everyone with respect no matter how they treated her. She got to know the employees. There were some that didn’t treat her the best in the world but she was still friendly. Her faith showed through with everyone she interacted with. As far as means go, she didn’t have a lot but what she had that mattered more than anything was a strength from the Lord for personal evangelism. It was her identity. She knew Jesus in a deep way and wanted others to know him as well.

This store was a big box nationally known retailer. The HR lead at the location warned me of being open with my faith. Leadership was not that way with the people of other faiths who would pray several times a day and be given time to do so and accommodated other ways. Needless to say this grandmother and I chose to lean into our faith regardless. God opened the door for her to witness to several employees. This one tough guy who had a lot of influence on the team, eventually came to Christ because of the seeds she planted as she got to know him. She trusted God and did not back away from the pressure to be silent. Her strength in Christ influenced me.

At this location, I was blessed to have a wonderful conversation with someone who noticed that I led my life differently and modeled some of the fruits of the spirit at work.God used this workplace to show me His strength. This young lady asked me why I was different. It allowed me to share the Gospel with her. She also came to the saving grace of Jesus and repented of her sins and asked Christ to be Lord of her life.

We can work and work and work in our own strength. We can plan and scheme and follow tons of great advice and get worn down with the lures of this life. I know I have for decades followed what the world said was sufficient and good. It gave me heartache and pain. Stress,anxiety and health problems outflowed from following the worlds ideas on how to lead and grow.I finally began to understand that it was in Christ’s strength and with His victory, that success would follow. When I began to understand that, I started turning over things I was struggling with and leaving them with Christ. Then I was able to start to see His peace and strength flow from my life. Slowing down, trusting more and being led by His word and His spirit, I began to be filled with His strength. As that happened over the years, I saw career advances and success mentoring and leading others that I had never experienced before in my career. The Lord had begun to change me, I had quit resisting it and leaned into it more and more.

I challenge you to live a life like this grandmother I met. Turn everything over to the Lord, don’t hold back. Once you do, over time you will start to see Christ move in all of your situations. Success will find you but it will be due to the Lord’s strength and grace not your planning or will power.