Henri Nouwen states,
"There is a great
difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from
strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to
create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it
available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame.
Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A
child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born
through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through
touching one another’s wounds. Let’s remind one another that what brings us
true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness."
When you combine your
giftedness with shared weakness and vulnerability that’s where the true glory
lies. You see the fruits, we leave
behind.
Jesus was powerful but he
was also vulnerable and he died on a cross.
That was not successful in the world’s eye. But it was his way to show the world that his
greatest gift to the world is also where his greatest vulnerability and weakness
lie. His suffering created a community
of believers who would keep the dream alive.
Who would come after him empowered by the Holy Spirit to go out and
touch lives. His death brought about the
communion of saints, the Apostles first creed, and the early church; a sisterhood
and brotherhood of devoted believers.
His death released unto his children an inheritance that can never perish, spoil
or fade.
This inheritance is
kept in heaven for you, 1Peter 1:4
