Driven By What…

 

I’ve been a pretty motivated guy most of my life. I had a father who loved me and encouraged me to always strive for the best! This brought along some success in most areas of my life… when my father passed away, I was 16 and this drive propelled me to work as many jobs as it took to survive… eventually putting myself through college. The instilled will and drive to survive and ultimately succeed served me well!

But recently I have been asking myself… what really drives YOU Tony Simoncini?

All kinds of things drive people. Love for a family, the need to please a father or mother who demanded too much, maybe it’s the need to be valued and accepted!

But should there be more?

When we are driven by something bigger than ourselves, patience is a must… because you realize that things don’t often come as fast or in the manner in which you want them to. Someone who is driven by themselves or things within that demand an answer will not recognize this and move on from the original plan in favor of seeing THEIR vision fulfilled… but when we are driven by something bigger than us we are better able to sit and practice patience when things are not moving at OUR pace, fulfilling OUR desires, and happening as fast as WE want them to!

For me that which is greater than myself is God. As a follower of Jesus, I have begun to ask the hard questions about my way of driving my life and this is where I have landed…

I have learned to rely on God as my driving force and stop making everything about me and my timing. I have learned that God’s timing is waaaaaayyyyyyyy better than mine, and sometimes they don’t line up perfectly, which means if I can’t be patient and let His time come… I tend to drive away from the plan instead of holding out for His timing to surface! I have learned from experience that people can make thimgs happen…We are strong, resilient and resourceful people who know how to make things happen

So the question today is… what drives you? Is it you, or something bigger than you?

May we all come to grips with the fact that being driven isn’t enough… we need to be driven by a vision that originates in God and rests in Christ alone… because its that vision that will allow us to put down our drive in favor of being driven around by the creator and sustainer of ALL things!

Peace

All We Need Is Just A Little Patience…

No this is not a tribute to the Guns N’ Roses whistle laden acoustic love song from the 80’s.

It has actually become a mantra of mine here in Utah. If I have learned anything during this year… taking it slow and using a little patience has become a life-line for me! For those who know me well, patience has not been something I would have called a strength of mine in the past. When I knew what I wanted or felt like I had a good idea, I usually ran with it and tried to drag along as many people as possible in the process. In life and business this appeared at times to be a great asset to have… to be driven was celebrated and called leadership! This year has been an education in life, ministry and leadership… and what I have learned this year above EVERYTHING is this… being driven doesn’t excuse us from being able to discern when to wait and exercise self control i.e. patience, and when to act!

Some people say don’t pray for patience because God will test you with it… I say we can’t afford not to be patient!

 

Galatians 5:22-25 says… “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

May we all learn to know the difference between times of patience and times of action!

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it”                                                                                                                                                                      -   Arnold H. Glasgow