A couple of weeks ago we recognized the 500th birthday of the protestant reform John Calvin. I spent a great deal of time reading biographical material and read one full biography of his life. He was an amazingly dedicated man. Predominantly, he was driven by glorifying God in all he wrote, said and did. It had been a while sense I had read a biography. I was reminded how inspiring this can be.
If you have never taken the time to read a biography of hero of faith for lack of a better term, then I encourage you to do so. I find such biographies a very good antidote for two ills: complacency and self pity. When you read about the accomplishments of ordinary folks like you and me, who achieved at profound levels, it becomes a bit difficult to be satisfied with any sort of status quo existence. It’s moving to recognize and observe a life fully dedicated to God.
If I happen to be in a “woe is me” mode, moping about like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, inspirational stories, often times reveal to me how truly minute the obstacles are in my life. Most profound accomplishment occur in the face of overwhelming adversity. Calvin is a great example. He had to abandon everything family to flee persecution in France. Many of his friends who stayed behind were martyred. At times people rallied around his home shouting threats through the night. He wrote about hearing as many as 40 gun shots during the night outside his home. War came with in a handful of miles of his home and he went to bed not knowing if the town would be attacked. Most assuredly this would have meant capture, torture and death for him. Suddenly, my complaints seem so petty and small.
One of the joys of being free of self-pity is being liberated to praise and thanks for all that I have. Sometimes it takes seeing someone else’s adversity to realize our blessings.
These are just too of the many blessings that come from reading about great figures of faith. Perhaps, the greatest blessing is that these stories almost point to the truly miraculous greatness of God. I’ll reiterated what I wrote earlier and that is, I encourage you to read a biography of faith. It will be time very well spent. If nothing else goto wikipedia.org and look up a few historic figures from church history. Who knows…may be through your reading God will call you to make history.
Blessings to you from The Practical Disciple