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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

What is Greatness?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the title of this blog, and my coaching business. "Created for Greatness." But what is greatness, exactly? Some people think of it as being rich and famous. Angelina Jolie-Pitt and Brad are "Great," right? Well, yes, but being rich and famous isn't all that is required to be great. For example, my sister is great. She has taken her talents and become an entrepreneur and a mom. She helps people on a regular basis find wellness and freedom through her Young Living essential oil business. My best friend Stace has found her greatness through being the best family therapist she can be.

Neither one of these ladies is what society would call rich and famous, but they have both found their greatness. Why? Because they took what God gave them and did something with it.


I have also started looking in one of my favorite references for greatness lately. My bible (and yours too, I assume) has so many stories of people who found the greatness that they were created for. These people were normal people like you and me, but God was able to use them to do great things. One of my favorite examples is Esther. She was born a Jew, an orphan, and was raised by her single uncle. Mordecai did the best he could, but I'm willing to bet they weren't rollin' in the dough. So imagine their surprise when Esther gets a letter saying, "the king demands your presence at the palace. You might be the next queen!"

If that were me, I'd be wondering who was smoking what. I'm not royalty. Neither was Esther. She was a poor Jewish girl living with her single uncle who adopted her. So what was the deal? Well, one: she was a virgin. How the king's people knew this about her was a mystery, except it was assumed in those days that if you weren't married and weren't obviously a harlot, then you were a virgin. Two: She was apparently beautiful. The king specified that only beautiful virgins be brought to the palace. Those things were things she was born with. She wasn't born into a lot of money, but God was able to use those things about her to bring her to a place of greatness. She was obedient to God's word about staying pure, which was one of the things God used about her.

Being great is NOT about being rich, or famous, or talkative, or quiet, or any of those things. Being great is saying, "Ok, I've been given these talents. What will I do with them?"

Another example of God using someone "small" to do something BIG was Joseph. I love love LOVE the story of Joseph. He was the next to youngest son of a Shepherd. I doubt very much that, like Esther, he was very wealthy. Granted, his father was able to give him a coat of many colors as a gift, but if you read the story this doesn't seem to be a regular occurrence. His brothers were pissed that he got one and they didn't. But God was able to use this son of a shepherd to save His people when the famine hit Egypt. Joseph was smart, and God had great plans for him. God knew way in advance what would be needed in order to save His people, so he figured, "why not? No one will expect salvation to come from over here." This tells me that God has more than a few chuckles when He plans things out. He knows it won't make sense to us humans, so He jokes around with us by bringing surprises from unlikely situations.

When you decide to find the greatness you were created for, be ready for an adventure. Life will be full of ups and downs, as God moves things around for you. But don't be disappointed when life hands you a "down." It just means an even bigger UP is coming. Be ready! Be great!