Public Success but a Private Failure

Imagine waking up one morning going through your daily routine. You Jump out of bed, get some breakfast, brush your teeth, and start getting ready for your day. On your way out the door you grab your coffee mug and head out the door. But instead of the freshly landscaped lawn and lush tulips and annuals greeting your eyes when you open the door. You are met with terror and calamity as the outside world you know totally has went far South between you lying down last night and stepping foot outside your front doorstep.

You want to go out of your home, but the picture to the left is what meets you...a Sink Hole HUNDREDS of feet Wide and who knows how many Feet or MILES deep!!! What Horror would fill your heart, what thoughts, what actions, what plans of survival would be rushing through your mind as come face to face with danger and possibly your demise?

While I wish that this revelation was mine to truly communicate, I have to give recognition to one of the authors that I have grown to love, Mr. Gordon MacDonald who brought this reality to the forefront in his book, Ordering Your Private World. MacDonald does an AWESOME job detailing the effects of sinkholes in our daily lives.

It was such an inspiration that I had to share my thoughts with you. MacDonald tells the story of the Floridian Sinkhole that happened some years ago. Sink Holes happen when the underground currents of water dry up during seasons of drought and the surface above caves in due to the lack of it's underground support, instantly swallowing up homes, cars, buildings, and people. He tells the reader that this sinkhole can be related to the caving in of our "outer-world" because there was no spiritual depth to keep the pressures of this life from causing a cave in, a break down, or a sink hole.

I thought it was so interesting to read and understand that so many of us have build great exteriors of our lives. We've gotten a certain level of success, recognition, applause, accomplishments, and awards...but many times we receive the reward but inwardly we cannot appreciate and accept what has happened because our "inner world" is disorganized and many times compromised.

We've seen it over the past few years, preachers, politicians, musicians, business leaders, and the like experiencing abyss like craters in their ministries, careers, marriages, businesses, and finances. This is all due to a neglect of the inner world (thoughts, will, imagination, emotions, spirit, and intellect). They are what i call a Public Success but a private failure.

Their private lives have no substance, no depth, and little meaning. Most of their efforts are external and focused on acquiring the recognition that they forsake the TRUE meaning of success...Wholeness in EVERY Area of life...Spiritual..AND Physical.

MacDonald tells us that our spiritual life is one that sustains the strength and foundation of our physical lives and all that we build on the surface of our lives. So today...I encourage you to do 2 things:
#1. Go Get This Book
#2. Think about how much time you are spending building things on the surface, but if truth be told some of us are just one degree away from experiencing a sinkhole in which EVERYTHING you thought was strong caves in and is lost for ever...

Take about 15 Minutes today to attend to and strengthen your inner man through prayer, reading The Bible, journaling, or just simply visiting your future through your imagination. Whatever you do, make sure you take time out for yourself...You Need it..and DESERVE it!

Love Ya'll....Keep Running!

TS

Hebrews 11:3

Romans 12:1-2

1 Corinthians 2:9-11