Motivation

Are you ever struck by an absolutely brilliant idea? You know, those thoughts that just seem to come out of nowhere and fill you with excitement galore!

Then reality sets in. For those who tend to be the ideas people, reality comes when they share with a more practical implementer. The practical one begins to outline all of the pros and cons, pointing out the challenges of implementing such an idea.

I know…I’m the practical one. I so rarely come up with ideas on my own, but I can definitely kill the enthusiasm of an ideas person. I don’t mean to. Really and truly, I am simply processing and trying to figure out just where to start. By processing, I am building myself up to the enthusiasm that the ideas person gains from the idea itself. I am the planner. The nuts and bolts kind of person. There’s a reason Hannibal is my favorite member of the A-Team – I am most energized when that laboriously concocted plan truly comes together.

In the meantime, though, the energy for the implementation has to come from somewhere. So often it must come from the person who had the idea in the first place. That individual must keep the fire going and the excitement running as the details of the dream start coming together.

But what about those rare times when the implementer is actually the ideas person?

Yes, those times are rare. I am an administrator. An implementer. A plan person. That is just how God wired me. But every now and then He gives me an idea directly. He plants a thought in my mind that I just cannot shake. And when He does, I immediately begin to attack it with the pros and cons. I try to attach a plan to it. In the process, I so often rob myself of the enthusiasm and the energy needed to actually implement the idea. I suck my own confidence dry, talking myself out of the idea as the practical thought set in. The enthusiasm disappears, and the motivation flies away as well.

Suddenly, I realize that I am seeking motivation from the wrong source. When the idea is really of God, the motivation cannot come from any source other than Him. Truly, though, it goes deeper than that. The motivation can come from no place other than the cross of Christ.

Anything other than the cross is insufficient and peripheral. True, it might still be important, but it is not sufficient. Doctrine and theology are important, but they are nothing without the truth of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection. Obedience is important, but if it does not stem from the incredible truth of Jesus’ sacrifice, it is nothing more than completing a checklist. Yes, even obedience must come back to the cross.

What is the source of your energy today? Is it the ideas that flow through your mind like a fountain, continually filling you with excitement over what might be possible? Is it the enthusiasm of that ideas person, fueling you to keep working to discover ways to implement the idea? Both of those sources will eventually run dry. Only one source will continually provide you with the strength you need to implement anything God lays on your heart: the cross of Christ.

And that, my friends, makes me want to jump up and work this very moment!