"A Proactive, God-Filled Day"

Even though my Mary Kay business should really only loosely be termed a business these days (I pretty much just fill reorders and send out catalogs - I don't pursue business, but I also don't turn it down...and I still make enough to buy a couple pizzas every month), I get a ton of email from other Mary Kay ladies. All of it geared toward motivating you to sell! sell! sell! I bought into the hype for a little bit when I first started - it's hard not to. But I remember distinctly when I wrinkled my nose and began to realize that, while I love the products and will probably always be a consultant for my own use, if nothing else, I just couldn't do the rah-rah any longer. It was a week where we were hit first with a recording of one of the very successful National Sales Directors who said, "God wants you to succeed. Never feel guilty about wanting to make lots of sales and earn lots of money, you're the daughter of the King and so you should have wealth!" and then we were hit by a very excited recommendation of Joel Osteen's latest book at the time, "Your Best Life Now." (Or whatever the title is, but I think that's it.)

And I got a little queasy. Because while I don't have a problem with Christians being successful and making lots of money and being blessed in material ways, I also don't think it's something that we're owed. God chooses how and when He will bless His children. Period. We don't control it. We don't insert the proper coin into the heavenly vending machine and then stand back and shower in the blessings. And to think we do downplays the joy and blessings that come out of adversity. (They're there. I know this personally. Granted, I never notice them when in the midst of said adversity - but looking back I realize just how much each struggle has blessed me. And I shudder to think how vain my life would be if all I ever had was a journey from puffy cloud to puffy cloud.)

I got another Osteen email today from my director, hyping the scriptural value of positive affirmations - quoting Osteen saying that giving voice to our Faith causes blessings to pour back into our life. The email went on to talk about how we need to thank God for His promises being fulfilled in our lives. I had no problem with that - until I got to the next sentence that made it clear that this then made that happen. So, we compel God to bless us by being positive. Um. No.

Suffering is a part of life - and not just part of life, but part of the Christian life. Jesus told us time and again that suffering and persecution for His sake would come and that we should not be surprised if the world hated us because it hated Him. And I just don't see how anyone aligns the idea that we make God bless us materially while on this earth through being positive with a promise that we will be unpopular if we stand firm in the Truth that God gave us. Will blessings come? Absolutely. But it may not be until we stand in His presence.

The other problem I have is that to believe that we bring about blessings in our life through a sheer force of will means that adversity is brought about through a lack of faith. Illness? Must be low on faith. Infertile? You clearly don't believe enough. And so on. And so forth. And I just circle back around - suffering is part of life. We're told this. And in fact, if we're living our lives right and truly standing as a force for Christ in the midst of a fallen world...shouldn't we expect that our suffering will far outstrip any prosperity?