Are You Lookin' for Satisfaction?

Salvation + Surrender + Attitude adjustment = Satisfaction!!!

How would you rate your overall satisfaction with your life? To be on the positive side of satisfaction you need to feel like at least 60 percent of everything in general is going your way. You can break that down to your personal life, your professional life, your social life, and your religious life. If any one of those is causing you more than 40 percent trouble – it isn’t going well.

A recent article in the Sun-Sentinel has this quote.

"Clergy ranked tops in both job satisfaction and general happiness, according to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits," said Tom W. Smith, director of NORC's General Social Survey, a poll supported by the National Science Foundation.

The worker satisfaction study, set for release Tuesday, is based on data collected since 1988 on more than 27,500 randomly selected people.

For the most satisfied workers, intrinsic rewards are key, the study suggests.”

What do the clergy have that the other jobs don’t have? They have ‘A CALLING” from God. Clergy are not most satisfied because they are clergy – they are most happy because they believe God has called them to a purpose, and they are fulfilling their destiny – or they are doing that for which they were created.

But there is a great deal more to the story of ‘A Calling From God’. Years ago my grandmother told me that when she went to ‘teaching school’ at the age of seventeen – the preacher in charge of preparing the students to teach school spent one week of the six weeks course stressing that if you were not there at the express calling of God, that you should go home. He said a ‘teacher is called to teach, just as a preacher is called to preach’. Grandma said a number of students went home after considerable counseling. Grandma stayed for the full six weeks course, got her teaching certificate, and went on to teach the next three years in a one room school house. She said she knew in advance that she was called to teach, and was surprised that some people had come without knowing they were called in the first place.; or that they are doing a specific job or task on the way to doing something else.

So now we have preaching and teaching as callings from God. However, I believe every human being is called by God to do many things. The greatest level of satisfaction (and success) will always be found in doing something that God has called you to do.

The first thing the individual is called to do is to be saved. This gains adoption into the family of God and eternal life in heaven with God.

The next thing the individual is called to do is to surrender his or her life totally to God. Two things can make this difficult.

First – the calling to surrender can be mistaken for a calling into full time ministry. That is not the first thing God will call you to do. First surrender to what ever God asks of you – then you get details.

The second difficulty arises when people think that they don’t want to surrender their life to God because He will ask them to give up everything they love and give them some horrible job they will hate. God created you to do specific good things. It is built into your heart. God will not call you to do anything outside the boundaries He has set as acceptable behavior. Don’t speculate in advance that God will ask you to do something you really don’t like doing. He put in you the good things He wants you to do – so chances are you already love doing some of the things God will ask you to do.

The article listed as the top five professions providing the most satisfaction for the people involved.

clergy,

physical therapists,

firefighters,

education administrators,

and painters and sculptors

Listed as the five most dissatisfying careers were

roofers,

waiters/servers,

laborers (not construction),

bartenders,

and hand packers/packagers.

This information will be analyzed, and some obvious conclusions will be made.

‘More educated people are more likely to have a higher level of job satisfaction.”

“Artistic and creative endeavors are more satisfying than menial labor.”

“Exciting and dangerous jobs (such as firefighting) provide more satisfaction than ‘safe’ jobs.

“Administrative jobs provide a higher level of satisfaction than merely following orders.”

But I think these conclusions are wrong. I think the difference is that the jobs like clergy and educator are more likely jobs that someone feels a calling to do. Maybe it’s just a ‘gut feeling’ for some – a ‘this is what I’m supposed to do’ feeling. The wise person will spend time talking it over with God – and not rely on ‘just a feeling’.

I believe that someone can be very satisfied with any job so long as they are convinced that God Himself has called him or her to do that job. That is why preachers and missionaries are so satisfied. If they took the time to be certain that God called them into the ministry, they have the fortitude to face difficult times and disappointments. When you see someone in the ministry struggling with what they are doing – it may well be that they made the first mistake mentioned above. When God called them to surrender to His will above their own will, they assumed God was calling them into the ministry. If you are seeking what to do in your life, be careful. Surrender everything to God, and THEN see what He calls you to do.

So – the situation is this. IF God had a purpose for putting someone in one of the jobs that the study says provide the least satisfaction – God would give His laborer satisfaction in that job. A roofer doing what God has called him to do is going to be satisfied with his work. A clergyman who is not satisfied has probably misunderstood exactly what God was calling him to do in the first place. Keep in mind that if you are currently doing what some would call a ‘lowly’ job, it may very well be just a stopping place. You still need to do the job heartily as to the Lord. He has better things for you just like He had for Josepeh.

The solution to personal satisfaction is simply this – ask God ‘WHAT ARE YOU CALLING ME TO DO? Now – God may call you to do something great – but He will probably not start you out at the top. David was called to be king – but he still had to do his duty as a shepherd! Don’t be impatient and lose the satisfaction in your life today.

People tend to think that God only calls people into positions like clergy, teachers, political leaders, and important positions. Truthfully, God calls people into everything. My husband was called to be a mechanic. Does that sound unimportant to you? It happens to be a very important job. It is also a very difficult job requiring endless training and practice to stay at the top of the field. At 65 Jerry is still at the top of his field. He is also a star in a number of ‘hands on activities’ as well. Actually, I think he could have chosen a number of careers that would have suited him – carpentry, electrical, master woodcraftsman, even glass art – but the opportunity was in auto mechanics. So the rest of the things he is good at were relegated to ‘hobby’ and ‘helpful to know how to do’. But ‘opportunity’ was how God directed Jerry. That is one of the main ways he directs people in exactly what He wants them to do.

Another way God directs people into a satisfying career and life is through circumstances and events. A quick study of the life of Joseph gives us someone who surrendered to the will of God early in life. Joseph knew God had something special for him, but he went through great trials before he was acclaimed as ‘great’ to the general public. Joseph was always ‘great’ to God, because Joseph surrendered his life to God early on. Then God took Joseph through his ‘years as a slave’, and ‘then his years as a jail bird’. Joseph actually prospered – even in prison. He knew God was with him. He was called to do God’s will. He did God’s will even in prison. Joseph’s level of satisfaction with even his ‘prison job’ was probably much greater than some of the most wealthy and influential people of his time, because Joseph knew that God was with him –even in prison. I think Joseph also knew that God was taking him somewhere beyond prison - eventually.

Where are you standing today in your level of personal satisfaction? Have you ‘arrived’ at your ‘destiny’? Are you still on your way to the top? Are you still struggling to even get a clue what God wants of you? Do you want the highest possible level of satisfaction in your life? It all begins with ‘surrender’. Surrender your will to God’s before you know what He is going to ask of you. God loves you. He wants good things for you. Whatever He has for you will bring good things. God will be with you through the hard things.

A final item for surrender to God is your ATTITUDE. You can do everything right outwardly, but if your attitude is not right, then nothing will be right. Your personal level of satisfaction depends on this. God has a very satisfying life for you. If Joseph had spent his time in Egypt with a ‘poor me’ or ‘I’m doing what I’m supposed to do – but you can’t make me like it’ attitude – I don’t think he would have ever risen to be ruler of Egypt.

So this is the equation we have come up with….

Salvation + Surrender + Attitude adjustment = Satisfaction!!!

Of course – the more complete the surrender of your heart is to God, the better your attitude will be, and the closer you will be to God. The closer to God – the greater your level of satisfaction will be.

The song for this article is: “Be Thou My Vision”.

The tune is a little difficult – but worth the effort to put the tune and words together. It is an old Irish song and tune.


“Be Thou My Vision”



http://junior.apk.net/~bmames/ht0112_.htm

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tow’r:
Raise Thou me heav’nward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whate’er befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

I Object to Just About Everything!

I Object
By Barbara Henderson

Well, I suppose it is time to let the cat out of the bag. I am a conscientious objector.
There are a lot of things going on in this world of which I definitely do not approve.
I do not approve of abortion. My conscience demands that I object. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the birth of a child, the only reason for an abortion is literal self defense on the part of the mother. If the life of a mother is truly in danger because of her pregnancy, then she should have the right to make a decision whether or not to carry the baby through to its actual birth.

I do not approve of people living together outside of the bonds of holy matrimony. My conscience demands that I object.

I do not approve of men and women making babies when they are not married. I do not approve of living together on a trial basis before marriage. My conscience demands that I object.

I do not approve of welfare. My conscience demands that I object. People should work for what they have. It is thievery to take something from one person and give it to another.

I do not approve of American troops fighting for freedom in places where the troops cannot express their own religious views without being subject to discipline. My conscience demands that I object.

I do not approve of illegal immigrants coming into my country and attempting to change my country to be like the country from which they came. My conscience demands that I object.

I do not approve of anything the US congress and senate are proposing at this time. My conscience demands that I object.

I do not approve of women walking around in wal-mart dressed like hookers. My conscience demands that I object.

I do not approve of 99.9% of what is currently shown on television, the movie screen, printed on magazine covers, and blasted through the air waves. Most music today is unholy from its very beginning, and I conscientiously object to that as well.
And in addition to all of the above, I conscientiously object to most of what passes for civilized behavior today!

Now, as I object to things, I turn from them. As much as possible - I don’t want to participate in them. That means I haven’t figured out how to avoid wal-mart altogether – I mean you can’t get everything on ebay. And I hope you also object to all these things and in fact – that you object to most of what is going on in the world. If you do, now is the time to turn from evil and look to find good things with which to fill your life.

The truth is that many Christians have turned from the things of the world already. They want to build a better world that is more pleasing to God. In their hearts, they love God and try to keep the commandments and to love others as Christ loves them.

As time goes by, they continue in well doing, but they begin to faint in their minds because they do not see the world as a whole, or even in part, going through any transformation for the better. In fact, it seems that the world is spiraling downward at an ever increasing speed. The truth is, ‘Yes, the world really is going to hell in a hand basket’.

The Christian today is seeing what appears to be the triumph of evil in every aspect of society, government, and religion. This brings weariness to the soul that cannot be borne for long without the Christian fainting in mind and spirit. Christian ‘burn out’ is just around the corner for those who have turned from the world, but still have the world stuck in their line of sight.

Sometimes Satan gets a ‘piece of the world’ and just rubs it in your face. Sometimes a trial comes along that makes the Christian say, ‘Man – I would have rather had a beating than had to go through that. Whether you are in a world of hurt right now, or just weary to the bone from facing circumstances beyond your control, it is time for you personally and everyone who calls themselves a Christian to stop looking at the evils of the world – about which they can do nothing, or at the very most – hardly nothing. Instead we should be looking at God’s instructions to ‘occupy until I come’. (Luke 19:13)

It is time for Christians to forget the things to which they object, and think on the things they want to project into the world. 2 Peter 1:5-9 gives us instructions on what to put into our hearts in place of the things to which we have objected and rejected.

5. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7. And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Now, I love verse nine. It gives us an idea of what happens to the Christian who does not add all these things to his daily thoughts and actions. He or she gets stuck in the moment. He cannot see afar off that followers of Christ are the triumphant ones. They only see the misery and woe of the day. It naturally follows that the Christian who has put all these things in his or her heart CAN see beyond the hurt and turmoil of today. They can see a better day coming. This helps them endure the trials of the day.

No Christian should be lacking in the virtues mentioned above. Let’s just take a minute or two to go over them.

First, we must have faith. Faith is the beginning of transformation.
Faith in Christ pulls the believer to Christ.
In Christ we see all the good qualities listed above.

As the Christian is pulled closer to Christ because of his or her faith in Christ, the following things begin to be demonstrated in his or her own life. The Christian should ignore what is demonstrated in the world. Their thoughts should be focused on demonstrating the things of Christ in their own lives.

The foundation stone for transforming the Christian life is faith in Jesus Christ alone. From the solid rock of Jesus Christ, Christians are supposed to grow stronger by building on the foundation of Christ.

2 Peter tells us:

To your faith add virtue – to actually do the things Christ says to do, and to NOT do the things He says not to do.

To virtue add knowledge – to actually study the Bible to know what God has to say on every subject

To knowledge add temperance – moderation in all that we do

To temperance add patience – submission to the trials in your life – or willingness to enjoy the things of God even in trying circumstances

To patience add godliness – love God with all our hearts and love others the way God loves them even though they don’t deserve such love and compassion. The most godly people have a continuing sense of God’s presence in their lives. I suppose they know well that our Good Shepherd walks with them wither-so-ever they go.

To godliness add brotherly kindness – as we love others as brothers we will treat them with brotherly kindness.

To kindness add charity – which is the love of God, or love of God that continues to grow as the believer better understands the love God has for him.

These things are stepping stones that lead us higher and higher. Our view of God becomes clearer as we struggle to add all these things to our thoughts and actions. The view of the world and its evil becomes dimmer. We are learning to see afar off.

The alternative to adding these things to our lives is to be stuck looking at the sin and sorrow of the world.

Adding these things to our lives does not prevent us from being affected or even attacked by the world. Adding these things does strengthen us to better be able to face our future without despair or burnout.

Another Soldier Died Fighting for Freedom - Does Anyone Care?

Who Cares When a Soldier Dies?
By Barbara Henderson

Jerry was downtown several years ago. He had gone to an automotive parts house after a specialty item that could only be found in a few locations. He noticed there was a big crowd down town, especially for a work day. Most of the people were older people, but not all of them. He went into the store to get the item he needed. When he came back out the streets were temporarily closed and the people were lined up on the sidewalk as though waiting for a parade.

He asked an old solider what was going on. The man had a tear in his eye as he explained that the body of a soldier from WWII had been found and was finally coming home. Jerry is naturally a very respectful man, but he was especially touched by the emotion of the old soldier. He looked around the crowd. Aged men were crying everywhere.

Then a small cavalcade of cars came by with the hearse carrying the body. As it went by Jerry said he felt the blackness of death pass by. Jerry did what everyone else was doing. He cried.

The last time he felt a presence of death and sorrow like that was at the funeral of his grandmother. She had been sick a long time and she was happy to go to heaven. After all, in heaven she would find her husband and son Gerald who had been killed carrying wounded to safety on Omaha Beach on D-day. Jerry made it through his grandmother’s funeral with sorrow, but also with thanksgiving that his grandmother was at peace with God.

When the funeral ended, we turned to walk away. Then, there staring us in the face, was the tombstone of Tech/Sgt Gerald Henderson, KIA June 6, 1944. The sorrow of his death hit us both and then we cried. After all those years, that particular grave site still radiated an intense sorrow.

Of course we never met Gerald. Jerry never met the soldier who was brought home that day down town. It seems that soldiers killed in foreign lands fighting for freedom seem to carry an additional sorrow with them. They died fighting for freedom.

Today, there are people around the world and it seems especially here in the United States, who have no respect for these soldiers. They want the war stopped in the name of peace. They cry peace, peace, when there is no peace. They are like spoiled children trying to make the world conform to their image of peace. When a soldier dies, they pass not a moment in contemplation on exactly why the soldier was there fighting in the first place. I am sure the soldier wanted to live, but duty was greater than personal desire. Soldiers in the USA today are not compelled to serve. They choose to serve.

On the other hand, when a well known person dies, the world as a whole goes into mourning. If you don’t fall into hysteria over the death of what passes for a celebrity, then you are considered abnormal. Do any of you remember when Princess Diana died? It was a tragic end to a beautiful lady who was loved by many people. However, I didn’t know her. I was sad for her family, sad for the sorrows in her life, and hopeful that she might have been a believer in Jesus Christ, but my heart was NOT broken. My heart had already been broken by the death of my sister. The news media pushed Diana’s death in the faces of the public until I began to wonder if my lack of intense grief meant my heart was hardened.

Recently Michael Jackson died. It was sad. When death comes to a family, there are no words to describe the darkness that just overwhelms them. However, the rest of the world cannot grieve as though grieving for a family member. The news media’s attempts to force the public to grieve by their intense and prolonged coverage of celebrity deaths is unconsciencenable.

The news media should be covering the deaths and sacrifices of soldiers in a way that acknowledges their sacrifice in a positive way, and gives thanks for the freedoms their deaths work to secure for the rest of us. The tragedy of war is not lessened by honoring those who fought and are fighting the wars. Jerry’s uncle Gerald was killed 65 years ago, and he is still missed. How much more the soldiers who have been killed more recently? For Gerald, most of those who actually knew him are with him now in heaven. He has nieces and nephews who would have liked to have known him and who are thankful for his sacrifice. They understand that it was his sacrifice and the sacrifice of thousands of others like him that preserved the nation of freedom in which we grew up.

The idea of most peace-niks is to simply stop war. Unfortunately, in the sinful world in which we live, the only alternative to self defense is a totalitarian regime. They forget that Iraq had a history of just making people who opposed leadership just ‘disappear’ never to be heard from again. Afghanistan has a history of viciousness that is indescribable. Rudyard Kippling said, ‘When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains, and the women come out to cut up what remains, jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains and go to your gawd like a soldier.’

Currently, soldiers are fighting in places like Afghanistan to prevent their way of life from coming to consume our way of life. I am thankful for the sacrifices of these soldiers. Even if they pass through their stay in such a place without a scratch, they will have mental scars they will carry the rest of their lives. To the day he died, my dad had nightmares about his time spent in the Pacific Theater of WWII. In addition to the mental images that he carried with him the rest of his life, dad actually had malaria flare up during his last years, causing him extreme suffering. However, dad saw first hand the Japanese culture of viciousness inflicted on non Japanese by the Japanese soldiers. Dad never doubted that it was worth the efforts of soldiers to stop the Japanese from achieving their goals.

To Michael Jackson’s family, I extend my sympathy, and especially to his children. News coverage of well known singer’s death is certainly appropriate.

However, it would be even more appropriate to cover the deaths of soldiers who die fighting for their country. Their heroism should be saluted. It should be mentioned on the news every night. It should not be used as a tool to protest the war. Appropriate coverage could be just to tell a little about the life of the soldier and his or her family. Tell something about why he or she was fighting. Tell the world this man loved his country and the way of life available here. He thought it was worth preserving even at the cost of his own life. Tell the world another soldier wanted to build a better world with freedom for all. She wanted others to have the opportunity to grow up in a free society like she did. Tell the world that this Christian was a missionary minded man. He wanted the people living under the rule of an evil tyrant to have the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ so they could make an informed decision regarding their own eternal destination.

I think at least in part, the reason that celebrity deaths are mourned far beyond what is normal for the general public is that celebrities are seen as almost god like. The public sees a particular talent or beauty as above what is possible for an average person. When someone like that dies, the fans feel as though their personal little god has died. Perhaps in mourning the death of a celebrity, the adoring crowds are mourning their own mortality.

The best way for us to show our appreciation for the sacrifices of those fighting to preserve freedom is to live our lives in a way that makes use of freedom.
Do obey the laws of the land that do not conflict with the laws of God.
Do not take on any boundaries or limitations in your life that are not required of you by God and the legal system.

Don’t let social, political, or peer pressure run you life. If you let the opinion of others run your life, you are not free, and you are probably miserable.

Your freedom was bought at a very high price.
Don’t squander it trying to fit in with the rest of the world.