success

I'm reading in Acts 21 where Paul gets arrested in Jerusalem. Along the way to Jerusalem, people prophesied about his upcoming imprisonment. It made everyone VERY upset.

But they, & we, see Paul's being in prison as a bad thing. We forget that he wrote letters to people & places while he was in jail.

These letters became the foundation for much of the New Testament.

We are so very short sighted. We look at things through the filter of worldly success. We don't look at things like God does.

God was probably enormously pleased with Paul, even though he was in prison a good chunk of his Christian life.

We are called to simply be who God has made us. The doing, & the eternal ripple effect of that doing, are both His responsibility, not ours.

That's something I've had to think about as Lynn & I walk towards our "next" - it may not be a glittering success in the eyes of many of you, our friends or family, or anyone else. I hope I can remember Who it is I'm trying to please & obey as we walk into this next phase in our lives.

(remind me of this blog the next time the manure hits the fan in my life, will ya?)