Your Successes Come From Your Struggles by Bro. Bo Sanchez

Let’s imagine a crazy scene…

Imagine a tourist who goes on a trip to the Vatican. And while walking through St. Peter’s Baslica,the church of the Pope, he oohed and aahed at everything he saw. Especially when he saw the most popular sculpture in the world—The Pieta.

As he gazed at this particular statue, he didn’t realize that it was already evening. All of a sudden, he heard the giant doors of the church close. Immediately, the lights went out. And he discovered he was the only one inside. He got afraid and was about to run towards the doors when the unthinkable happened…

The Pieta spoke up! The statue said, “Don’t worry, in ten minutes, another guard will be walking around…”

Of course, the man wanted to run away. But his curiosity was stronger than his fear. So he asked, “Who…who…who are you? Are… are… are you Mother Mary?”

The sculpture spoke, “Nah, of course not. I’m just the statue. I’m The Pieta.”

Inexplicably, the man calmed down and said, “You’re an incredible work of art. You’re so beautiful…”

The statue said, “Would you believe? Once upon a time, I wasn’t beautiful at all. Once upon a time, no one wanted to look at me.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” the tourist asked.

“Once upon a time, I was an ugly block of stone. I was in an old warehouse, together with other ugly-looking blocks of marble. We had no shape. We had no distinctions. We were nobodies.”

“And then what happened?” the man asked.

“Well, one fateful day, a young man walked in the warehouse. And this 25-year old kid looked at me in a queer way. Like he saw something in me. While everyone else saw marble, he saw a masterpiece. He walked around me, looking at me from different angles. He kept gazing, observing, studying me, it was unnerving. Finally, he asked a few men to carry me into his house. And that’s when the torture began…”

“What do you mean?” asked the tourist.

“Well, I learned that this guy’s name was Michaelangelo. And he started drawing pencil marks on me. Thousands of pencil marks. And it was slightly painful. More importantly, I felt violated!  But then he put his pencil down and he picked up a metal stick… with a sharp point at the end. I cringed. I asked myself, “What is he going to do with that thing?” Somehow, I knew this wasn’t going to be good. That was when he placed that metal thing on me—and then I saw him holding a hammer in his other hand!  I froze in terror.  And WHAM! The pain was horrendous. What shook me was seeing little pieces of me on the floor. This Michaelangelo was a violent lunatic! But I didn’t know he was just starting his work. I didn’t know it was the first of many, many blows…”

“How many?” the tourist asked.

The Pieta said, “Tens of thousands of blows. Probably more. I lost count. All I knew was that those blows lasted for 8 long years.”

       “My goodness!”

       “But finally, the chiseling stopped in 1499. And lo and behold, I was beautiful. And I’ve been beautiful these past 500 years….”

       The tourist said, “And the most wanted, most valuable, most famous sculpture in the entire history of the world.”

       Suddenly, the security guard opened the massive doors of the church and saw him. “Oh, you’re still inside? Sorry about that…”

       “Not at all. I was able to spend quality time withThe Pieta…”

       The guard nodded. “Yep, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

       “More than I ever imagined,” the tourist smiled.

You’re God’s Masterpiece

Michaelangelo said that when he makes a marble statue, his role is to simply “liberate” the masterpiece that is trapped inside the marble.

Friend, you are that marble, God is the Sculptor, and He is creating a masterpiece out of you.

When God sees you, He just doesn’t see you as you are now. Like a sculptor that gazes upon a block of marble, He already sees your beauty and glory and wonder trapped inside you. God’s role is to liberate the masterpiece in you!

God’s Chisel

And do you know what is the chosen chisel of God? 

Pain. 

I do not know what your pain is right now.

Perhaps your pain comes from your family. Or from a lingering sickness. Or from a strained relationship. Or from a mountain of debt. Or from difficult people in your life.

God says, “The beautiful YOU is already inside you. And I allow pain in your life to bring that beauty out of you.”

Think about it. Aren’t these two things very different?

                                     

  

Yet they’re essentially the same thing.

In my life, God has done MORE through my struggles than through my successes. If you study my successes, you’ll see that it’s made up of raw ingredients coming from my struggles. 

My struggles became the pathway to my successes.

Are you in pain? Are you struggling now?

Don’t EVER give up.

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

We Need Tension to be Happy by Bro. Bo Sanchez

ou need tension in your life.

Because there’s such a thing as good tension and bad tension.

Warning: Don’t dream of having zero tension in your life. 

The reason why you can stand up is because there’s tension in your feet, in your ankles, in your knees, in your hips, and in your spine. If there was no tension in your body, you’d be a mound of jello on the floor.

Some people dream of sitting on the beach, lying on a recliner, their feet propped up, sipping a tall glass of orange juice, and playing on their iPads. Do that for one day and you’ll be happy. Do that for one week and there’s an off chance that you’ll still be happy.   Do that for one month and I’m sure you’re bored to death. Do that for one year and I bet you’re going crazy.

If you want to be happy, you need tension in your life. 

And do you know where good tension comes from?

Tension comes from Vision…

This Tension Will Keep You Alive

During World War II, in a Nazi concentration camp, cruel doctors experimented on the most effective way of crushing the human spirit. They thought that what would do that was to remove every remaining shred of physical comfort. So they removed chairs, beds, and extra clothes in the prison cells. Prisoners suffered… But somehow, they survived. 

Next, the prison guards cut the food ration to half.  Again, the prisoners suffered, became exceedingly thin… But they survived. Next, they increased their work hours from 12 hours to 16 hours a day. Again, the prisoners suffered tremendously, became sickly and fainted at different times… But they survived.

It seemed as though nothing could break the human spirit.

Finally, the Nazis tried one last experiment. One morning, the prison guards asked the prisoners to dig a hole in the ground. So the entire day, with shovels and pickax and wheelbarrow, they made a gigantic hole. 

The next day, when they woke up, the prison guards asked the prisoners to cover the hole again. The prisoners were perplexed and didn’t understand, but they obeyed. 

The next morning, the prison guards asked them to dig the hole again. Everyday, they asked them to do the very opposite of what they did the previous day. On and on it went. 

Result? Two weeks later, the prisoners began to die one by one.

Why? More than our need for food, or comfort, or sleep—we need purpose. We need the tension of purpose. When what I do has no more purpose, something in me dies.

When there is no purpose, there is no pull. 

Where there is no target, there is no tension.

Is Your Heart Big?

God gave us a big heart. 

But many people’s hearts are small.

Why? Because they are not stretched. Because stretch comes from vision.

Your heart was designed by God to be so big, it can stretch from your present location to your future vision.  Jesus said, your heart will be where your treasure is. If your vision is very important to you, even if your vision is far away, your heart is already there with your vision.  Your heart is here in your present location and there in your future vision. And there lies the beautiful tension that will keep you alive!

Is Your Vision Big Enough To Pull You?

       Here’s what I realized about life: The bigger the purpose, the bigger the pull; The farther the target, the stronger the tension.

If you talk to kids and ask them, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” some of them will tell you of their wild, crazy dreams. “I want to be a Pilot!” or “I want to be a preacher!” or “I want to be a billionaire!” Kids say it with so much confidence and certainty.

       Sadly, after just a few years later, all that childlike confidence flies out the window. Why? One reason: Because well-meaning adults take it away from them. Adults say, “Be realistic. You’re poor. Your parents are poor. You’re not very bright. You look ugly. You’re not very special. You’re setting up yourself for big disappointments. If I were you, you should lower your dreams.” Soon, harsh reality sets in. Negativity sets in. Discouragement sets in. Frustration sets in. And all those big dreams fly out of the window as well.

       When that happens, the heart becomes small. Tension disappears. And people begin to live small lives.

Today, I’m here to help you recapture this fantastic childlike ability to dream. Start dreaming big dreams again. Cast a big vision in front of you. A big vision is better than a small vision, because a big purpose has bigger pull. But big visions are necessary to create enough tension to draw us out of our reality.

Big Vision Is Better Than Small Vision

      Four years ago, I declared on stage, “We dream of building 1000 Feasts” around the world. At that time, there were some well-meaning friends who told me, “Bo, be more realistic. Perhaps 100 Feasts is a more doable figure. You might just be setting yourself for failure.”

       Today, after four years, there are 110 Feasts around the world. Despite the fact that I’m telling all the leaders of the Light of Jesus, “We’re not in a hurry. Don’t go fast. Enjoy everyday of the journey.” But our leaders are saying, “We’re not going fast. Bo, this is slow!”

       We’re experiencing a pull because we have a big vision.

       Let me ask you, “What’s your vision?”

Focus On Your Vision-Giver

       Remember this story? As long as Peter fixed His eyes on the Vision—Jesus—He was able to walk on water. But the moment he looked at the winds and the waves, he started sinking.

       Do you feel like you’re sinking right now in your problems?

       Focus on your Vision. Forget everything else. More importantly, focus on the Vision-Giver. God is giving you a Vision. And He is telling you that this is what your future will be.

       Don’t pay attention to your problems.

       Don’t pay attention to those who criticize you.

       Don’t pay attention to those who tell you that you can’t do it.

       Pay attention to only two things: (1) Your Big Vision and (2) your Big Vision-Giver. The Bible says,Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

       Ultimately, your Vision is to “be like Him”. When does it happen?   It happens when “Christ appears”. When you see Jesus, you become like Him.

Do you know why worship is important? Worship isn’t singing a bunch of songs. Worship is seeing God.

       Don’t just see your Vision; see your Vision-Giver. 

At the end of the day, you’ll realize that your Vision and your Vision-Giver are one!

       May your dreams come true,

       Bo Sanchez