Thursday, November 4, 2010

What's your success story?

We tend to think of success to be something like this: a self-made man/woman overcomes obstacles to attain a level of achievement bringing them wealth and fame...  

But not everyone will reach 'success' like this; if we take the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) seriously, we know that Jesus must have a different kind of success in mind.

Take my friend Jake (not his real name) for example; he wasn't dealt a full deck of cards in the game called life. Born to alcoholic parents, Jake has fetal alcohol syndrome. Because of parental neglect, he spent practically all of his childhood years bouncing from one foster home to another--including some horrendous years in one of Canada's infamous residential schools. He endured abuse of every type from his earliest formative years into adulthood. By the time he was a teenage, he was a solid alcoholic, simmering inside with inexplicable (to him) rage. 

Family has always been important to him...mainly because he really never had one. When he found out that his biological sister was raped by her boyfriend, he killed the boyfriend--perhaps partially out of love for the sister and partially out of deep seeded anger inside. However, a turning point in Jake's life happened while in jail, where for several years another inmate--a Christian--ministered to him. Jake took hold of Jesus' love and forgiveness, and began to see himself in a new light. 

Jake is in his 50's now. Having become a Christian didn't change the fact of his fetal alcohol syndrome, nor did it completely erase the residual effects of the abuses he endured, but faith in Jesus has sustained him all these years. And so everyday that he is alive and sober is a success. 'To whom much is given, much is required' (Luke 12:48). 

To an outsider, such "success" does not look like much, but to God it is significant. Heaven will be so sweet for Jake.

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