Are you living in the sweet spot?

Have you ever wondered about who you are, what you’re supposed to be doing and where you’re going? Have you felt small and insignificant? Have you wondered what happens after your life on earth is done?

I just read a fantastic book that has a lot of the answers in it. I highly recommend it to everyone. Max Lucado is a favorite author of mine and I just read his “Cure for the Common Life – Living in Your Sweet Spot.”

The overall theme of the book is: Use your uniqueness (what you do) to make a big deal out of God (why you do it) every day of your life (where you do it).

First of all, Lucado talks about the uniqueness of each person who has ever been born. Of the billions of people, there is no one like you, and that is because God prepacked you. Read Psalm 139:13-16. Those verses tell you that God formed your inward parts while you were in your mother’s womb and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God even has the number of your days laid out for you.

Where do you think your personality comes from? You are different from anyone else. How about what you like to do? What are you good at? Are you of a creative bent or are you a planner and an organizer?

Lucado writes that “God made only one version of you” and He packed your little knapsack before you left Heaven with the likes, skills and aptitudes to do the work He sent you to do. “He custom-designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment.” Basically, if you aren’t doing what God custom-designed you to do, you’re doing something else. Perhaps you’re not living in chaos (or maybe you are!), but you’re definitely not living in your sweet spot.

The sweet spot, golfers and tennis players know, is the spot on the club or racket that is the best place to hit the ball for getting optimal performance. Hitting the ball elsewhere on the club or racket doesn’t yield the same successful results. Your sweet spot is living in the center of God’s will.

From your sweet spot, God then intended you to use your uniqueness “to make a big deal out of God every day of your life.” That is why we are here on earth. To love God and to bring Him glory.

Reading “Cure for the Common Life” made me think of something I’d heard earlier in my life: Living life on earth is just maintenance. Getting an education and a job, caring for a family, enjoying recreation, etc., are what we need to just maintain our lives temporarily on earth, which is not our home.

Heaven is our home if be believe in Jesus. We don’t need a mansion to live in when a smaller, less expensive house will serve as shelter and comfort. We don’t need to work so hard to gather stuff that we will leave behind when we die. My mom used to say, “You don’t see a U-Haul hitched behind the hearse.” Perhaps maintaining a simpler lifestyle will allow us to do what God preplanned for us to do -- to glorify Him and build His kingdom.

Finding God’s plan for our lives is accomplished by believing in Him and believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, which then allows us to connect and communicate with God.

In “Cure for the Common Life,” Lucado has some exercises to help you find your sweet spot. Part one is “The First Step Toward Finding Your Sweet Spot” and helps you figure out “your unique gift mix.” Part two is “Next Steps to Finding Your Sweet Spot,” which walks you back through the chapters to review the main points, apply the Scripture passages and then make applications to your life in order to bring passion and excitement to your life of faith.

Lucado says, “Remember, your God-given gifts enable you to do something in a manner that no one else can. And when you find it and do it, you’re living in your sweet spot.” Get the book. It’s great!