A life of ease sounds attractive, but I want to get to the end of my life and know that I made a difference
I have shared in the past how much I like Moses from the Old Testament, mainly because he is constantly dogged by self doubt, which I identify with.
I particularly enjoy his initial conversation with God, which was basically a series of excuses:
Exodus 3:11 (NIV)
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”Exodus 3:13 (NIV)
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”Exodus 4:1 (NIV)
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”Exodus 4:10 (NIV)
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”Exodus 4:13 (NIV)
But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Self doubt is part of life for all of us. I found some helpful advice in one of the books I am reading at the moment: Launching a Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward
Sometimes people struggle to become Performers and find themselves smack up against a poor self image. Additionally, there seems to be no shortage of situations that expose us to these feelings of inadequacy. We all have them. But Performers know that they must succeed despite these feelings, not in the absence of them. It is a decision. Sometimes we will not feel worthy of a certain accomplishment, so we must make ourselves worthy. We may not feel that we can measure up to our goals, and that is precisely the reason for deliberate personal growth. Because our potential outreaches our current reality, it is natural to feel a tinge of inadequacy. Personal growth closes the gap. To reach our potential, growth isn’t optional. It is required. Performers take their feelings of inadequacy and turn them around, preferring to see them as measurements of their full potential.
A big part of me would prefer not to experience the feelings that are caused by a sense of inadequacy. One option would be to shrink my life to a point where it doesn’t feel stressful… its just that my life will basically be a waste of time if I do that.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt said, “There has not yet been a person in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.”
A life of ease sounds attractive, but I want to get to the end of my life and know that I made a difference, not that I had an easy time…
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2 Comments
Anne Nanscawen
Reading Moses’ responses to God in this way is great! It’s so human, laughable from this distance.
I wasn’t so keen on Chris Brady’s reflections on Performers because to me, a Performer isn’t really sincere. However in the end I see his point that it’s about reaching beyond what we think we can do/be. There is a line in Robert Browning, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”
Jim van Ommen
We need leaders in all walks of life, but how do we know that our ambition for leadership, whether in the Church, the community or in government is based on the motivation to serve ? We need to be very honest with ourselves, I guess.
I get the impression that Moses was not at all ambitious or that well educated, but he did have a burning bush experience, was obedient and a great leader in spite of his shortcomings.