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What to Do When the Other Guy Gets the Credit
rebecca@rebeccafussell.com
“Just think how much could get done in this world if no one cared who got the credit.”
We all clap, nod our heads and say, “Boy, isn’t that the truth! Who cares who gets the credit?”
Usually, we say that when we just got the credit . . .
You’ve been there before haven’t you? (Please tell me you know the feeling so I’m not hanging out on a limb here.) You invest a ton of blood, sweat and tears. You determine not to give up regardless of the numerous times you discover one more way not to do it.
Finally, a solid foundation begins to gel and things start clicking. Then out of no where, someone else swoops in,
takes the ball and runs it into the end zone.
The crowd cheers wildly—or barks if you’re a Georgia fan—chanting the ball carrier’s praise. Meanwhile, you stand at the forty-yard line trying to grasp what just happened.
You realize no one cares that he’s in the end zone because of your hard work and sacrifice.
I know it absolutely shouldn’t matter.
We’re all on the same team for goodness’ sake. So why do I feel a tinge of something yuck in my stomach when the crowd chants the other guy’s name?
One day I decided instead of walking around with this weird unsettled feeling, I’d hit it head on. So, I asked God to help me be honest with Him
and understand why I felt such angst about this.
To my surprise, the answer came bursting forth
from my heart before I had time to make it pass the a-good-Christian-wouldn’t-think-this checkpoint. I spit out, “Well… I’m sad because I know I’ll never get the credit for the work I’ve done.”
Hearing my voice say it shocked my ears.
Oh, how I hated to admit it.
I sounded like an ungrateful child with arms crossed and a hanging lower lip. All for something silly like not being picked for line-leader that day.
I needed to scrape this gunk out of the bottom of my heart, so I kept pressing in. I said it again a little slower, “I’ll never get the credit . . .”
The Holy Spirit whispered to my heart, “Did you hear what you just said? You want credit.”
“Yes, I know. It sounds funny,” I replied to Him.
“Rebecca, what exactly do you want credit for?
Uh, silence on my end.
“You do realize that credit is only needed for a debt you owe.”
“Or a rainy-day fund.” I added quickly with a finger in the air to punctuate my point.
“Yes, that’s true,” He said. “But you owe no debt,
and you definitely don’t need an emergency fund. (I thought I heard Him squelch a chuckle. Then His tone got real serious and tender-like.) “I paid for every bit of your debt Myself on the cross. I made you accepted and right the moment you trusted Me as Savior.”
“And just to be clear,” He continued, “You can’t stock-up on any amount of ‘credit’ that will make me love you any more or less. You are debt free, My love. The only debt you owe is love. That’s all I ask of you. Just love.”
Ah! Suddenly, the light of God's truth pierced through the fog and the lie had no place to hide.
How freeing! I don’t need to stockpile brownie-points or prove anything to anyone. I don’t need credit to establish my worth or value. I am debt free.
What moments before seemed so valuable, now felt more like worthless Monopoly money.
It doesn’t really matter who gets the “credit”. My debt is extinguished.
But God wasn’t finished…
“Besides My child, where do you think you got all of those creative ideas and problem-solving solutions?
What, like, you just thought of them one day and I said, ‘Ah, gee Rebecca, why didn’t I think of that’?”
How silly of me.
Even if I did get “credit”, it’s not really mine to receive.
That breath I just took and the next one . . . yep from God.
More fog lifted, and I began to see clearer from His perspective. Ministry didn’t start with me, nor end with me. By some bizarre privilege, we’re allowed to be part of God’s work. What an unbelievable pleasure and treat!
He continued, “Honey, relax. I love you.
And My love is not based on what you do. So instead of worrying about credit that doesn’t apply, go out with joy. Live free and light. Love people like I love you. Let them know if they’ll trust Me, they can be free too. Just love the people, Rebecca. You already have all the credit you’ll ever need!”
Read Ephesians 1 and be blessed.
Hope & Glory To You!
Love,
Rebecca
I walk. They ride. Bicycles that is.
Her name was Beatrix—Bea for short.
I can laugh about it now—quite hysterically in fact. I should’ve known, but I didn’t.
Happy New Year ~ almost! You know what that means…
Do you know what today is?
Years ago, Ronnie, Chandler and I piled into the car ready for a fun weekend away.
Life was hard. Money was short. And sleep was shorter still.
Mother or not, this post is for you.
I didn’t really have time. But this time, it didn’t matter.
The rubber tourniquet squeezed my bicep preparing my vein for the prick.