On our list of books on our bookshelf is one called the Divine Mentor by Dr. Wayne Cordeiro. The book itself is filled with valuable, I would even say life-changing, material… but one interesting thing he talks about is that other people can do 95% of what you do in life. For someone who thinks they are relatively significant in their own circle, this is such a blow to the ego, isn’t it! He goes on to say that the other 5% is all up to you. You are irreplaceable in 5% of what God gave you. I think it begs the question then, what is my 5% and am I giving my all to it?
We like to think of ourselves as irreplaceable don’t we? We dominate our jobs, our volunteer work, our home duties, but when you think hard about it, all of those jobs can and will be done by somebody else at some point. Maybe not as well, but they will all be done by another some day.
The things that we can’t afford to miss or mess up on is the 5%. As a mom to your children, you are irreplaceable. As a wife to your husband, you are the one that God chose to be united to him in a covenant. As a child of God, you alone are the only one who can have a relationship with Jesus and make sure that you understand what eternity means with Him or without Him. That 5% is a big deal.
What I find though is that the other 95% gets the majority of our priority. The other 95% is important, but I think if we look at it with the lens of “replaceable,” it helps us get our priorities straight.
There are so many things that grab our attention away from the most essential things in our life. Some are worthy of the attention, and some are just time fillers that our society has deemed as important…. sports, social outings, awards, bigger houses, better lives…. they all come at a cost. These are things that potentially can strangle what we really have to offer, what we really have been called to place value on.
The five percent I believe that God calls everyone to focus more on is the things he has entrusted us with, not the gifts that come out of the replaceable. He has entrusted us with people to care for and be involved with. If things are strangling those relationships, you might need to prune whatever is getting in the way. Whether that be extracurricular activities, extra hours on the job, or saying no to a time-consuming project. Taking care of our 5% is what we should be called to do.
A sweet friend of mine was able to be with her elderly momma as she was passing away. This frail woman of faith was surrounded by her seven children, singing hymns, reading scripture and spending the last precious moments together as a family. Her mom turned to her children and asked, “Did I love you enough?” In other words, did I choose my 5% wisely? She was headed to heaven to a savior she knew well. Her children surrounded her with love and endless respect. For 95 years this sweet woman understood her realm of the irreplaceable. She didn’t miss her chance. She made her 5% make up 100% of her importance, and she finished well. My prayer is that friends we too would define our own 5% and live out loud intentionally for our irreplaceable.
