From The Penthouse to the Pavement

I love a good rags-to-riches story. People who start with nothing and become successful. Others with no education invent something that everyone wants or needs. Some became vastly popular because of the good they had done while growing up being told they were useless and would amount to nothing. People who have started at the bottom and worked their way to the top without shortcuts but by blood sweat and tears. These are the real-life ugly ducklings becoming the beautiful swan stories.

I do not like seeing people fail and give up. I think people are capable of much more than they believe. People can succeed if they remain persistent. Many successful people return to their childhood communities to give others the tools to make them successful.

There are those, however, that forget about their beginnings. They are self-important. They neglect family, old friends, and God because their eyes are on something different now.  Some equate success with money and possession. Others associate it with fame.

[Pro 16:18 ESV] 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

I just finished watching Big George Foreman on Netflix. George grew up poor. He grew up in a family that believed in God and thanked him for the little that they had. George would eventually make it to the top of the boxing world and become the champion. The things that once mattered to him meant very little now. Sometime later, he loses everything. He returns to fighting after not being in the sport for 10 years. At one point while losing a fight, he realizes that he went “from the penthouse to the pavement.” When he does, he realizes everything important to him was always there, and he delivers the knockout blow to his opponent and regains the championship belt.

[Rom 8:18 ESV] 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Sometimes life knocks us down. Being at the bottom especially when you have been to the top is extremely unsettling. Embarrassment, guilt, and shame may cause us to hide what we are going through. That does not help. We may think that the bottom is what we deserve and choose to quit. Being at the lowest point of your life is an opportunity to bounce back. Leave the past in the past and move forward. See things for what they are and respond positively. Where you are now is nothing compared to what awaits you.

[Pro 4:25 ESV] 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.

We need to keep our eyes open to the things that matter. Money, possessions, and fame do not matter. The people around you matter. The people who love you matter. The God who created you matters. When you understand this and love them the best way you can, you find a new definition of success.

[Jos 1:7 ESV] 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

God wants you to be successful in everything you do. If you try to help someone, he wants you to be effective. If you are at work, he wants you to be productive. Whatever you put your hand to do, he wants it to be fruitful. If we quit focusing on ourselves and obey what God tells us to do, success will follow.