We’re here to put a dent in the universe. -Steve Jobs
Making Dents
This weekend, I started reading the book Impact: Great Leadership Changes Everything by Tim Irwin (known for writing Run with the Bulls without getting Trampled). Irwin says this in the opening chapter,
We want to believe our lives count for something more than fighting gridlocked freeways and making it from paycheck to paycheck. In moments of quiet reflection we ask ourselves, “Is it really possible for our lives to make a difference?” When it is not apparent that we can, we feel anguish.
Irwin then goes on to sum up that paragraph with the Steve Jobs quote, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe.”
As I write more and more, I find myself coming back to a couple of themes:
They are tied together at the hip. You can’t really have one without the other. You can’t have purpose without living a story…a great story. You can’t have a great story without true purpose.
This is what Jobs and Irwin are both saying in different ways – we are created to do something big.
What is it?
A couple of years ago, I attended the Storyline Conference hosted by Donald Miller. During the conference he asked a question that pierced my heart.
Someone here feels like you were created to do great things. It’s true. You have been created to do GREAT things!
It was as if Miller was speaking straight to me. I alone in that room was connecting with him and his words. I WAS created to do great things. I was meant to do something significant. I am to put dents in the universe.
It hit me later that I am not alone. It wasn’t just me he was speaking to. You too are created for the same thing.
Don’t get ahead of yourself though. It starts with the what. What are you created to do?
I’m created to write and speak about the things I’m thinking about. I’m created to lead. I’m created to create.
What’s even harder is believing it’s true. Did God really create ME to do THAT?
Believe
The last couple of days I’ve read several chapters out of the Gospel of John. John uses one word repeatedly in chapters 6, 11,12 & 20…BELIEVE.
Do you believe in Him? Do I believe He is the Messiah?
Now, to be clear, the Gospel of John is not a self-actualization book about believing in the better you. However, there is a powerful truth in the word John uses over and over.
Believing in Jesus and allowing Him to transform our lives propels us forward to doing great things. As a Christian, I do good (and even great) things because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit that lives in and through me.
This is how Paul says it in Philippians 2:13 –
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
This is how I make a dent. I believe.
I believe Jesus is the Messiah. I believe his power is alive and works through me. I believe I am called to do GREAT things in his name.
This is how you make a dent. You believe.
What do you believe?
I believe that I have wasted a whole lot of years in “survival” mode. I wholeheartedly desire to be useful to the Kingdom of God in whatever time I have remaining. I’m not at all certain as to how this is going to play out.
Carol –
I think this is where we gain “credit” with God. It’s where we show faith. Following without knowing how the end will exactly turn out.
Good for you!