God is all we need.
In light of Robin Williams’ recent death….which was shocking to me….I have found myself reflecting on success.
He obviously had an incredible gift for making people laugh. USA Today called him a “comic genius”…….which I think is an incredible gift among others that he had. His gift, which he honed, brought him much success, fame and fortune…..but did it bring him peace, joy, and comfort?? I cannot answer that question.
I did not know him personally, but apparently he was a very troubled man at the end of his life. I tend not to believe everything reported in the press. Unfortunately they sensationalize and even give half-truths that are in my opinion full lies…but in interviews I have seen with him I’ve heard him say he was troubled and plagued with addictions…cocaine, for example, “to escape” and “to get quiet”. I am not sure at all that Robin Williams had a relationship with the Lord…only God knows the secrets of the heart as stated in Psalm 44:21, but from outward fruit (Matthew 7:16, “You will recognize them by their fruits…” ) I don’t think he did.
I loved him. He was and always will be one of my favorite actors of all times. I loved the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire” among so many others. Just to look at him at times…made me smile. He seemed to be a kind and gentle spirit as well. He had the ability to endear himself to others. Most sources say he suffered from depression.
In comparison… I just had a friend and minister tell me about a guy who was called to go to the mission field. To pick up and leave all the comforts of home and move his family to not only a foreign land and culture but to a dangerous and hostile country. He has the gift of “evangelism.” It was very challenging for him and as he entered the foreign culture and started his missionary life, he couldn’t figure out why on earth people would move their families to such unfamiliar, unknown and dangerous places.
After several years…..he was called to go and interview others on how they could endure such a life and be satisfied and joyful in life, leaving their creature comforts to go to the mission field and live a life that was not comfortable. He interviewed a man who lived in a part of Asia where he had been in prison for days. He was stripped naked and tied up. He stayed cold and hungry and was fed just enough every three days to keep him alive. His response was this, “In that place I learned that God is all I need!”……This story is found in the book, “Insanity of God”.
I learned both the story of Robin Williams’ death and the story of the imprisoned missionary in the same day. I have sat and pondered the life of both men…..one whom had all that the “world” would say was wonderful….the most comfort money can buy and was embraced by almost anyone….and the other who chose not to pursue that comfort…one who obviously, by his “fruit,” was sold out to God, choosing a “road less traveled”. A road I like to say is “less popular”…….It is obvious to me from the outside looking in, after reading interviews by both men, one known world wide and one obscure to the “world” but not to God…….which one found the true “gold”…the “significance” of life…..
When we invite Jesus into our hearts, He doesn’t call or ask everyone to go to “hostile” places to share their faith….but He does call us out of the “comfort” that causes us to depend on ourselves and what the “world” says is our safety net.
I have heard it said that “God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.” In my experience of 52 years of living…I have found it to be more like this, “God gives you enough, or asks you to do enough, so that you have to depend on Him. You cannot achieve it in your own strength!”
I have also heard it said that God doesn’t call the equipped…HE equips those He calls! NOW there is no “truer statement!” Ephesians 4:12, “To equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”
I urge you, if you do not know Jesus….to invite Him into your life….to allow His Holy Spirit to equip you to fulfill the life purpose for which He has created you…..HE WILL SHOW YOU.
If you are a Christ follower, maybe you need to recalibrate….take a step back…get alone with a Holy God and seek to take a look at where you are and if you are on the path God has designed for you or if somehow you have allowed yourself to be misguided…..God is a God who restores…regroups…refocuses….revives…..HIS desire is for my/your/our GREATER good…HE has a plan…..HE can and will……reveal it. We have to be willing to leave our “comfort zone,” whatever that is…it is different for everyone, deny ourselves and take up the cross and follow Him….it is there we find the purpose of life!
True gold, the significance of life, true success is found in Jesus alone. He is all we need.