Men judge us by the success of our efforts. God looks at the efforts themselves. - Charlotte Bronte

I truly believe this. When we try to honor God with our talents, when we make the most of what's been given to us, we find peace and joy and contentment. Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner, said, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run I feel God's pleasure."

I love to run, and I totally understand his analogy and where he's coming from. But every single one of us has had a time when we kept on going when we could have stopped, when everyone said we'd done enough. There is something liberating about knowing you gave it everything you had, irrespective of what anyone else had to say and irrespective of the outcome. I had to turn in a portfolio today and I worked really hard on it. I feel God's pleasure right now. The evaluation of my portfolio may heighten this feeling of accomplishment, but it can not take away from it.

It's amazing, to consider that God doesn't need you to singlehandedly accomplish great things. He just needs you to do what you can, and he will take care of the outcome. He will judge us one day not by what we got done, but by what we gave of ourselves.