CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE PART 1 (MAX LUCADO)

“. . . I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for” (Jeremiah 29:10–11 MSG).

ONE: YOUR SWEET SPOT (YOU HAVE ONE!)

"Each person is given something to do that shows who God is" (1 Corinthians 12:7 MSG).

1. Brick by brick, life by life, God is creating a kingdom, a “spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5 CEV). He entrusted you with a key task in the project. Examine your tools and discover it. Your ability unveils your destiny. “If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:11).When God gives an assignment, He also gives the skill. Study your skills, then, to reveal your assignment.

God endows us with gifts so we can make Him known.

2. Our Maker gives assignments to people, “to each according to each one’s unique ability” (Matt. 25:15). As He calls, He equips. Look back over your life. What have you consistently done well? What have you loved to do? Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness.

You’re not God’s solution to society, but a solution in society.

3. Live so that “he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!” (1 Pet. 4:11 MSG). Exhibit God with your uniqueness. When you magnify your Maker with your strengths, when your contribution enriches God’s reputation, your days grow suddenly sweet. 

4. He ordained your work as something good. Before He gave Adam a wife or a child, even before He gave Adam britches, God gave Adam a job. “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15 NASB). Innocence, not indolence, characterized the first family. God views work worthy of its own engraved commandment: “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest” (Exod. 34:21 NASB).

Whether you work at home or in the marketplace, your work matters to God. And your work matters to society.

God honors work. So honor God in your work. “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good” (Eccles. 2:24 NASB).

Use your uniqueness (what you do) to make a big deal out of God (why you do it) every day of your life (where you do it).

5. Sweet spot. You have one, you know. Your life has a plot; your years have a theme. You can do something in a manner that no one else can. And when you find it and do it, another sweet spot is discovered. Let’s find yours.

SECTION ONE: USE YOUR UNIQUENESS 

TWO: UNPACK YOUR BAG

"He has filled them with skill" (Exodus 35:35 JB).

“Each of us is an original” (Gal. 5:26 MSG). God packed you on purpose for a purpose. Is this news to you? If so, you may be living out of the wrong bag.

1. One study states, “Problems at work are more strongly associated with health complaints than any other life stressor—more so than even financial problems or family problems”. The cure? God’s prescription begins with unpacking your bags. You exited the womb uniquely equipped. David states it this way: “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 139:15–16 NIV).

You cannot be anything you want to be. But you can be everything God wants you to be.

2. Don’t dull your life by missing this point: You are more than statistical chance, more than a marriage of heredity and society, more than a confluence of inherited chromosomes and childhood trauma. More than a walking weather vane whipped about by the cold winds of fate. Thanks to God, you have been “sculpted from nothing into something” (v. 15 MSG).

“At each man’s birth there comes into being an eternal vocation for him, expressly for him. To be true to himself in relation to this eternal vocation is the highest thing a man can practice” (Søren Kierkegaard).

3. “Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants” (Eph. 5:17 MSG). You can do something no one else can do in a fashion no one else can do it. Exploring and extracting your uniqueness excites you, honors God, and expands his kingdom. So “make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that” (Gal. 6:4 MSG).

When you do the most what you do the best, you put a smile on God’s face. What could be better than that?

THREE: READ YOUR LIFE BACKWARDS

"God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him" (Philippians 2:13 NCV).

Our past presents our future.

“The child is father of the man,” wrote William Wordsworth. Want direction for the future? Then read your life backward.

1. You are heaven’s custom design. God “formed you in your mother’s body” (Isa. 44:2 NCV). He determined your every detail. “Who made a person’s mouth? And who makes someone deaf . . . ? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the LORD” (Exod. 4:11 NCV).

2. God knew young Israel would need a code, so he gave Moses a love for the law. He knew the doctrine of grace would need a fiery advocate, so he set Paul ablaze. And in your case, he knew what your generation would need and gave it. He designed you. And his design defines your destiny. Remember Peter’s admonition? "If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies” (1 Pet. 4:11).

3. What have you always done well? And what have you always loved to do? That last question trips up a lot of well-meaning folks. God wouldn’t let me do what I like to do—would he? According to Paul, he would. “God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him” (Phil. 2:13 NCV). Your Designer couples the “want to” with the “be able to.” Desire shares the driver’s seat with ability. “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4 NIV). Your Father is too gracious to assign you to a life of misery.

“Human life would seem to consist in that in which each man most delights, that for which he especially strives, and that which he particularly wishes to share with his friends” (Thomas Aquinas).

See your desires as gifts to heed rather than longings to suppress, and you’ll feel the same joy. So go ahead; reflect on your life. What have you always done well and loved to do? 

Read your life backward and check your supplies. Rerelish your moments of success and satisfaction. For in the merger of the two, you find your uniqueness.

FOUR: STUDY YOUR S.T.O.R.Y

"The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. . . .He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works" (Psalm 33:13, 15).

1. You didn’t exit the womb with your intended career tattooed on your chest. No printout of innate skills accompanied your birth. But as life progressed, you began noticing your gifts. Skills, revealed. Knacks, uncovered. God gave those. “It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (Eph. 2:10 TLB).

The cure for commonness begins with strength extraction.

2. You play no small part, because there is no small part to be played. “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it” (1 Cor. 12:27 NLT). “Separate” and “necessary.” Unique and essential. No one else has been given your lines. God “shaped each person in turn” (Ps. 33:15 MSG). The Author of the human drama entrusted your part to you alone. Live your life, or it won’t be lived.We need you to be you. You need you to be you.

God never called you to be anyone other than you. But He does call on you to be the best y o u you can be. The big question is, at your best, who are you?

3. It’s time to study your S.T.O.R.Y. and find out! These five questions will help you on your way:

• What are your S-trengths? 

Synonymous verbs mark your biography: “repairing,” “creating,” “overseeing”. What certain things come to you so easily that you genuinely wonder why others can’t do them? 

• What is your T-opic? 

Once you know your verbs, look for your nouns. What objects do you enjoy working with? 

• What are your O-ptimal conditions?

What factors trigger your motivation? Some people love to respond to a need. Others are motivated by problems.

• What about R-elationships?

Think back over your moments of satisfaction and success. On those days, how were you relating to people? Diagnose your relationship style, and, one final element, determine your payday.

• What makes you say . . .Y-es! 

When do you feel God’s pleasure? When do you look up into the heavens and say, “I was made to do this”? 

When do your Strengths, Topic, Optimal conditions, and Relationship pattern converge in such a fashion that you say, “Yes!”? When they do, you are living out your S.T.O.R.Y.

FIVE: DON'T CONSULT YOUR GREED

"Be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; He’ll promote you at the right time" (1 Peter 5:6 MSG).

1. Greed comes in many forms. Greed for approval. Greed for applause. Greed for status. Greed for the best office, the fastest car, the prettiest date. Greed has many faces, but speaks one language: the language of more. Epicurus noted, “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little“. And what.was that observation of John D. Rockefeller’s? He was asked, “How much money does it take to satisfy a man?” He answered, “Just a little more”. Wise was the one who wrote, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Eccles. 5:10 NIV).

In a desire to be great, one might cease being any good. Promotions might promote a person right out of his or her sweet spot. For the love of more, we might lose our purpose.

2. David rejected the armor, selected the stones, lobotomized the giant, and taught us a powerful lesson: what fits others might not fit you. Indeed, what fits the king might not fit you. Just because someone hands you armor, you don’t have to wear it. Just because someone gives you advice, a job, or a promotion, you don’t have to accept it. Let your uniqueness define your path of life. “You, LORD, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You” (Isa. 26:3 TEV).

3. Examine your gifts; know your strengths. “Have a sane estimate of your capabilities” (Rom. 12:3 Phillips). When someone tries to bump you out of your sweet spot, here is your rebuttal: “This is my S.T.O.R.Y., and I’m sticking to it”. Don’t heed greed.

4. Greed makes a poor job counselor. She tells fig trees to bear no figs, olive trees to bear no oil, vines to bear no grapes. Don’t consult her. “Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have” (Heb. 13:5 MSG). Is not the right job with little better than the wrong job with much? “It is better to have little with fear for the LORD than to have great treasure with turmoil” (Prov. 15:16 NLT). As the Japanese proverb says, “Even if you sleep in a thousand-mat room, you can only sleep on one mat”.

Don’t let the itch for things or the ear for applause derail you from your God-intended design. 

“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11).

5. Before you change your job title, examine your perspective toward life. Success is not defined by position or pay scale but by this: doing the most what you do the best. Parents, give that counsel to your kids. Tell them to do what they love to do so well that someone pays them to do it. Spouses, urge your mate to choose satisfaction over salary. Better to be married to a happy person who has a thin wallet than a miserable person with a thick one. Besides, “a pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life” (Prov. 13:7 MSG).

Pursue the virtue of contentment. “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6 NIV).When choosing or changing jobs, be careful. Consult your design. Consult your Designer. But never consult your greed.

SECTION TWO: TO MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF GOD

1. He loaded your can. He made you unique. But knowing what He gave you is not enough. You need to understand why He gave it: so you could illustrate Christ. Make a big deal out of Him. Beautify His face; adorn His image. The next few chapters have one message: color Christ with the crayons God gave you.

2. Don’t waste years embellishing your own image. No disrespect, but who needs to see your face? Who doesn’t need to see God’s?

3. God promises no applause for self-promoters. But great reward awaits God-promoters: “Good work! You did your job well” (Matt. 25:23 MSG). My teacher gave us something similar. Judging by her praise for our sketches, you’d think Rembrandt and van Gogh attended her class. One by one she waved the just-colored Christs in the air. “Wonderful work,.Max. Just wonderful!” I smiled the size of a cantaloupe slice. You will too.

SIX: TAKE BIG RISKS FOR GOD

"God doesn’t want us to be shy with His gifts, but bold and loving and sensible" (2 Timothy 1:7 MSG). 

1. How you relate to the master of the house colors everything. Dread him and hate your work. Trust him and love it. How you feel about the Master of the universe does the same. Do you think God treats you with the sensitivity of an Auschwitz prison guard? This assumption guarantees daily deliveries of dread to your heart. Or do you believe God cherishes you like Stradivarius would his newest violin? He does. Believe it, and extract your strengths with great joy.

2. Your God-given design and uniqueness have high market value in heaven. God didn’t entrust you with a $2 talent or a $5 skill. Consider yourself a million-dollar investment—in many cases, a multimillion-dollar enterprise..God gives gifts, not miserly, but abundantly. And not randomly, but carefully: “to each according to each one’s unique ability” (v. 15).

3. “Well done, ” Jesus will say to some. Do you not long to be numbered among them? To have your Maker look into your eyes, with all humanity watching and listening, and tell you, “You did a good job”? And to have Him call you “good”. When He does, it counts! Only He can make bad sinners good. And only He makes the.frail, faithful. “Well done, good and faithful”. Not “good and flashy” or “good and famous”. Not even “good and fruitful”—just faithful.

Many discover their “what.” They may luck into “where” to use their “what.” But “why”?Why did God pack your bag as He did? So people will love you? Pay you? Admire you? Hire you? If your answer involves only you, you’ve missed the big reason, and you’re making the big mistake.

4. Some invest their talents and give God credit. Others misuse their talents and give God grief. Some honor Him with fruit. Others insult Him with excuses. The one-talent servant did. “I knew you to be a hard man,” he said. The master wouldn’t stand for it. Brace yourself for the force of his response. “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited My money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back My own with interest” (v. 26–27).

Who is this unprofitable servant? If you never use your gifts for God, you are. If you think God is a hard God, you are. And you will live a life of interred talents.

5. Go out on a limb; He won’t let you fall. Take a big risk; He won’t let you fail. He invites you to dream of the day you feel His hand on your shoulder and His eyes on your face. “Well done,” He will say, “good and faithful servant”. 

SEVEN: COME TO THE SWEETEST SPOT IN THE UNIVERSE

"An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18 CEV).

1. Heaven never exports monotony. Christ once announced: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of ” (John 10:10 MSG). Nor does God author loneliness. Among our Maker’s first recorded words were these: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18 NIV).

What do you do with such thoughts? No one knows me. No one’s near me. No one needs me. How do you cope with such cries for significance?Some stay busy; others stay drunk. Some buy pets; others buy lovers. Some seek therapy. And a few seek God.

2. God’s ultimate cure for the common life takes you to a manger. The babe of Bethlehem. Immanuel. Remember the promise of the angel? “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matt. 1:23).

Jesus loved us too much to leave us alone.

3. God with us. Don’t we love the word “with”? “Will you go with me?” we ask. “To the store, to the hospital, through my life?” God says He will. “I am with you always,” Jesus said before He ascended to heaven, “to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NIV). Search for restrictions on the promise; you’ll find none. You won’t find “I’ll be with you if you behave... when you believe. I’ll be with you on Sundays in worship... at mass”. No, none of that. There’s no withholding tax on God’s “with” promise. He is with us.

4. Christ takes away your sin, and in doing so, He takes away your commonness. No longer need you say, “No one knows me”. God knows you. He engraved your name on His hands and keeps your tears in a bottle (Isa. 49:16; Ps. 56:8 NASB). “LORD, you . . . know all about me,” David discovered. “You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know thoroughly everything I do. . . You are all around me . . . and have put your hand on me” (Ps. 139:1–3, 5 NCV).

God knows you. And He is near you! How far is the shepherd from the sheep (John 10:14)? The branch from the vine (John 15:5)? That’s how far God is from you. He is near. See how these four words look taped to your bathroom mirror: “God is for me” (Ps. 56:9).

5. His kingdom needs you. The poor need you; the lonely need you; the church needs you. . . the cause of God needs you. You are part of “the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone” (Eph. 1:12 MSG). The kingdom needs you to discover and deploy your unique skill. Use it to make much out of God. Get the word out. God is with us; we are not alone.

6. And when the Spirit comes, He brings gifts, housewarming gifts of sorts. “A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church” (1 Cor. 12:7 NLT). Remember, God prepacked you with strengths. When you become a child of God, the Holy Spirit requisitions your abilities for the expansion of God’s kingdom, and they become spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit may add other gifts according to His plan. But no one is gift deprived.

The cure for the common life begins and ends with God.

EIGHT: APPLAUD GOD, LOUD AND OFTEN

"Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration" (John 4:24 MSG).

1. We suffer from poor I-sight. Two extremes of poor I-sight. Self-loving and self-loathing. We swing from one side to the other. Promotions and demotions bump us back and forth. One day too high on self, the next too hard on self. Neither is correct. Self-elevation and self-deprecation are equally inaccurate. Where is the truth? Smack-dab in the middle. Dead center between “I can do anything” and “I can’t do anything” lies “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

God’s cure for poor I-sight: Worship.

2. Honest worship lifts eyes off self and sets them on God. Scripture’s best-known worship leader wrote: “Give honor to the LORD, you angels; give honor to the LORD for His glory and strength. Give honor to the LORD for the glory of His name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness” (Ps 29:1-2 NLT). Worship gives God honor, offers Him standing ovations.

Each time we do our best to thank God for giving His, we worship. “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and.walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering” (Rom. 12:1 MSG). Worship places God on center stage and us in proper posture.

3. The chief reason for applauding God? He deserves it. If singing did nothing but weary your voice, if giving only emptied your wallet—if worship did nothing for you—it would still be right to do. God warrants our worship.

Worship God. Applaud Him loud and often. For your sake, you need it. 

And for heaven’s sake, He deserves it.