How to Succeed

     So here I was, speaking to a group for the third time. And what bothered me was, the first two times they didn’t ask me back.

When I asked someone from the first group, she brushed it off. “They probably didn’t ask you to come back and speak the next year because you didn’t fit with their theme.” Maybe, I thought. Or maybe I just wasn’t that good.When I told my mentor that I wanted my presentation to be successful, she said, “What would happen if it wasn’t?” She had me there. I mean, I’ve listened to tons and tons of speakers in my life. More times than I can tell you, God blessed me greatly, not because the speaker presented helpful content in a compelling manner, but because of something I happened to read in my Bible while sitting there, or some offhand comment the speaker made, some aspect of the speaker’s story that was completely superfluous, and yet God put His finger right on it and said, “This is for you.”So I had to admit if I didn’t burn the barn down, God could still work in ways I’d never know. And if I did, ostensibly incinerate an agricultural outbuilding, the long-term effects of the presentation might nonetheless simply fall to the ground and be forever forgotten. This is one of the many comforting things about being a Christian: it’s not your show.Certainly, I prayed. I also asked a hand-picked group of faithful friends and relatives to pray for me. I labored over my remarks, organized them, and practiced to an empty room. I arrived on time and got everything set up. I did my best.But my best, without the Holy Spirit, is just me sharing what I’ve learned. That’s okay, as far as it goes. But my best plus the anointing of the Holy Spirit means that He can take and multiply whatever good stuff I put out there, like loaves and fishes, and benefit people in ways I never imagined.Maybe they’ll ask me back. But I’m okay if they don’t. It’s not my show.