Do you know your sweet spot?

I read this book last month. I'm very excited about and a I've wanted to blog about it but have been putting it off, not sure why. It is a terrific book.

The title is curious. "Why do I need a cure for my common life?" one might think. But the angle the author's coming from is that most people are not living to their capacity, they're not doing the very things God specially designed them to be good at and enjoy. In fact most people are doing jobs they hate. Here's a shocking statistic from the US: "Seven out of ten people are neither motivated nor competent to perform the basics of their job." How miserable!

So the book motivates and helps us to find our "Sweet Spot", how we were uniquely made. Max takes us back to the past to find times that we've just loved doing something, an activity that made "time stand still" for us. Once he's helped us explore that he shows how we can use that unique gift to "make a big deal out of God wherever we are". So no, this book is not about moving into a life as uncommon as a missionary's life, but it is calling you to consider how you can better serve God by being the person he made you to be in the place he's put you.

Of course there is much in our lives that needs to be done, just 'cause it needs to be done. For example: changing nappies (US=diaper), cleaning toilets, washing clothes, paying bills, confronting children etc. Of course finding our sweet spot doesn't exempt us from doing these routine daily tasks. But if we have those things which we do find thrilling to look forward to in our days and weeks, the things we have to do, but don't like, can be more easily borne, I think.

I was privileged to speak to a group of Japanese ladies from our church (with translation, unfortunately my Japanese isn't good enough) about this very topic a few weeks ago. It came into the context of my testimony of how God has lead me to what I'm doing right now in Japan. I can see that during our last term in Japan God led me to find my sweet spot, to find ways to serve him in Japan that weren't "what everyone else was doing" nor particularly what seemed to be expected of me. And now I can see that the paths he's led me down are not only very suitable to how he's made me, but necessary. My skills are needed, even if they don't fit what I (or my organisation) thought were important for a missionary to be skilled at. 

The ladies seemed impressed that God would call someone to be a missionary, but not a church planter, as that was their image of a missionary's role in Japan. I was so glad God could use my story to encourage them that God can use "ordinary" people (read 'not-church planters') too.

If you haven't read the book, give it a go. Max's writing is very accessible, very easy to read. You might discover something about yourself that you didn't know. You might find a way that God is calling you to serve that will just light up your days. Don't settle for a common life that is making you miserable.