“Your ambition will only be a
delight in you when you delight in Him.”
— Haydn Nelson
“Thus I make it my ambition to
proclaim the good news.”
— Romans 15:20 (NRSV)
Ambition is generally frowned upon
in the Christian context, because it implies selfish ambition. And, who of us can extricate
ourselves from the web of self-deceit in going after a thing, a goal, a
position, etc?
Ambition proves tricky. We may
start out on a journey with good intent only to lose our way at some point.
Rarely do we venture out upon some bold endeavour, having had success partway
through, without experiencing some humbling reality that reveals our devoted drive
turned to selfish ambition.
But there is an opportunity in
ambition, if, and it is a big if, we have the ambition to serve Christ, much as
the apostle Paul alluded to.
When ambition has substance its
substance has ambition in God.
The Desires of Our Hearts – When Matched
with God
Underpinning any reconcilable
ambition for God is a much more basic concern.
What is it about the ambition that
so captivates us? Why do we so earnestly desire to serve in such ways?
It’s good when we feel the Spirit
of God searching us in these ways. We are only of true value to God in our
service, not least of all to ourselves, when we serve without thinking; when no
thought is entered into whether we do it or not.
When the desires of our hearts are
matched with God there is a summary blessing simply because there is no room
for second thought.
In such a place of the soul’s
remembrance—well beyond for the moment, the carnal—we are blessed because we
trust, and we serve because we must. We are under God’s direction.
This is a sense of surrender that
has the purity of
ambition about it; an ambition pivoting on Christ alone. This sense of ambition
drives us to serve and we may marvel at our new-found and sustained energy.
When our ambition is centred
around our delight in Jesus, we have the very basis of joy to consider,
especially in not overanalysing anything.
We do this in faith: to submit
without thought for the things God is telling us to do right now. And we keep
doing it. Having committed ourselves fully, we find that God provides the odd
brief hiatus—which is rest enough to recover from. Apart from that the candles
of our spirits burn brightly enough.
We find our faith never stretches
us too far; that God’s grace is always sufficient.
***
Enjoying the good life is as
simple as giving our lives away—coupled with a pleasantly cheerful heart. What
we take in this life we lose, but in everything we give we gain.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
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