All does not mean all

I finally got caught up with my e-mail, answering all 2500 or so from the recent AOL home page article deluge. I was amazed at how many people wrote and wanted me to take their ideas and turn them into million dollar companies for them. Some would preface their letter with something akin to: “Most Christians talk big, but when it comes down to helping people they are ALL talk and no action. If you are the Christian that you say you are you will call me and advise me on how to take my business to the next level”.

Hmmm… I usually begin my day at 3 a.m. give or take an hour and I generally do not stop working completely until at least 7 p.m. give or take an hour. Let’s see that amounts to an average of 16 hours per day or 80 hours per week not including Saturdays which I mostly limit to just 8 more hours of work. I work exclusively on spiritual matters early on Sunday morning and after church and rack up a few more then.

That is a lot of hours eh?

I have been writing WFTD five days a week since June of 2000, I receive and answer hundreds of e-mails and voice mails seeking advice on personal problems like divorce, financial disasters, drug/alcohol abuse problems, children problems including going to jail, people with suicidal tendencies, personal problems of every description, business problems, and spiritual matters.

On average I speak and offer my testimony somewhere between two or more times per week; I personally counsel individuals, participate in media interviews, and send out hundreds of inscribed copies of my autobiography, “Miracle on Luckie Street” to those who need encouragement.

I’m overseeing the mammoth undertaking of the construction of Honey Lake Resort and Spa and helping my younger son get a handle on the operational aspects of managing it, and I’m advising my middle son on his new software development company and assisting him with the marketing aspects of it. I also like to hunt and fish, spend time with my kids and grandkids, have dinner with friends, and every once in a while just relax and ride my horse off into the woods for some quiet time with God.

Unfortunately I don’t have time to mentor hundreds of people concerning business matters, and I resent someone saying that I’m a bad Christian because I won’t spend my days doing so. Most have come up with ideas and done little else. They want someone else to take their ideas and perform the difficult work and agony that it requires to make them a reality (and make them rich in the process).

News flash — You aren’t going to hit the lottery, inherit a fortune, find a fortune on your doorstep, or find someone who is going to take your idea and make you rich, (they might steal it and enrich themselves, but not you). If you want to be materially wealthy you need to be prepared to risk everything, work incredibly long hours for years and years, sacrifice leisure and family time, persevere through fierce storms that would make a preacher wilt like a pansy in the Mojave Desert’s hot sun, and be prepared to fail at least a couple of times while you learn the ropes; (80% of millionaires have been bankrupt — 90% of them have been bankrupt twice).

You will need to step up to the plate and do some things on your own. My life’s verse is Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. If you will carefully analyze that verse it implies that “you” must contribute. It doesn’t say others will do it for you or even that God will do it for you. “I” can do all things; not Christ or someone else doing all things for me…

All things????

Really????

Nope… You cannot establish a porn empire or drug cartel through Christ. Although it is not stated in this short verse it is implied that the “ALL THINGS” to which this verse refers, must be within God’s will for your life. Or more simply it is a promise of success in everything He ASSIGNS us to do.

How do we determine what He has assigned us to do? We must put in some time, as in many hours, days, sometimes even weeks or months of prayer and meditation down on our knees earnestly seeking understanding and seeking God’s will for our lives.

You will know that you have the right answer when you feel a tremendous sense of peace about your decision. You might have thought you wanted to go into business for yourself, but after prayer, God might enlighten you to the fact that the incredibly long hours that are required along with the risk, stress, sacrifice, uncertainty of owning your own business, economic conditions in the country, time away from your family, and required skill set in either knowing sales, marketing, product development, accounting, customer service, administration, and legal, or at least being capable of surrounding yourself with the needed experts, are not really well suited for your temperament.

Just maybe it’s more within your mission to work for others and be content with that lifestyle.

I cannot tell you how many times I have changed directions in my life because I discovered that I was butting my head against a brick wall trying to make “my” chosen path work versus surrendering “my” will to “God’s” will before finally getting on His chosen path for my life. Any path that is not God’s cannot lead to peace, joy, and happiness…


Most importantly once we have defined God’s purpose for our life we must have faith that God loves us and will bless those things that we do that go towards fulfilling it. This is not to say that all will be vanilla. It won’t. Satan will try to impede progress, discourage us, make us think we are losers, and tempt us to quit at many turns, but we must remain tenacious and keep the faith and Christ will strengthen our resolve.

Often, (particularly in witnessing to others about Christ), we will not even see the ultimate outcome of our effort. I use the example of planting Longleaf Pine tree seedlings on my property. They grow very slowly and in fact at my age I will not live long enough to see the full results of my efforts. My children and grandchildren will enjoy their splendor when they walk through the towering forest of stately pines sown by their gnarled up old grandfather, but I’ll be pushing up daisies. I plant the seedlings anyway just like I witness to others at every opportunity, because I have found that there is nothing more important in life than to tell others about Jesus Christ and the Christian way of life regardless of whether or not I personally witness them changing their lives to follow our Savior.

Spend whatever time it takes to define your mission in life as defined by God and not the world, and then offer yourself up fully in obedience and you will obtain all that you want or need in this life and the next…

Romans 6:16
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?