What is motivating you?

Douglas Bader lost both his legs in a flying accident. Yet he returned to the RAF at the beginning of the Second World War to become Britain’s most famous airman and hero. According to his biography “Reach for the Sky”, Bader led his squadron of Spitfires to kill after kill, keeping his subordinates going with unstoppable banter and encouragement. Shot down in occupied France, his German captors had to confiscate his tin legs in order to stop him trying to escape. But Bader faced it all, disability, leadership and capture, with a charm, charisma and determination that was to become an inspiration to all around him.

What was it that drove this on-in- a-million man to such incredible achievements? Paul Brickhill, the author of Reach for the Sky, answers the question in this way: “[Bader] always thought he had to go on proving himself. It was never conscious. The exterior was always masterful but underneath hid the little demon born in him, aggravated in his childhood and again when he lost his legs. He just had to be better than anyone to find the deepest and unconsidered assurance”.

The over-arching goal of Douglas Bader’s life was to prove that he amounted to something. Right through school and into adulthood, Bader had many goals. He aspired to play first team cricket, rugby and boxing, all of which he captained. If he hadn’t crashed, he would probably have played for England against the Springboks in 1931. He was selected for the elite RAF aerobics team.  Yet all of these goals contributed to the over-arching goal of proving that he amounted to something.

Which goals are setting the course of your life? Where are you investing your time, energy and resources? What keeps you awake at night and gets you going in the morning? Do you have an over-arching life-goal?

The Apostle Paul’s life-goal was to know Christ. He wrote: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Phil 3:7-11).”

Perhaps you know Jesus as the one who changed you on the inside and gave you new life. Maybe you are “in Christ” because you now have the Spirit in you. But are you beginning to know Jesus as your boss? Are you learning to walk in obedience to Him every day of your life? This was Paul’s supreme goal in life. What is yours? If your goals are anything like mine, you will need to make some adjustments!

Cheers for now - Ian