Fresh Thinking, Inspiration, and Vision on the Process of Spiritual Transformation

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.” (Job 40:10)

What is excellence? You may find yourself thinking “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” Perhaps just as important, we know it when we experience it.

Excellence has to do with manifestation. There are all kinds of things we could dream about, which we could hope for, or which we could see as ideal in whatever way. There are outcomes we could pray for, and there are realities that we may believe are true in some other place or in some other time—in the past, up in heaven, or in some hoped-for tomorrow. Excellence is about allowing what could be to be present, to manifest here and now, in and through a person and in their world. Until potential has manifested, it may be a hope or a dream, but a person doesn’t have the experience of excellence. Because even though hopes and dreams can be wonderful, excellence is about manifesting possibility.

To know excellence in living requires that a person go through a process that is a kind of remembering. It is not a remembering of past experience, though past experience may assist in the process. It is a remembering of what is true. It is a vivid awareness of what is true about oneself and other people, and often it requires that a person put aside any current facts that might persuade a person of something else. A person has to take time to turn away from negative facts to awaken their faith in what is true. This kind of remembering evokes the abiding belief that despite any past experience to the contrary, the truth of my life, the truth of all life, is glorious.

Excellence requires this kind of remembering, and it is also requires that we use our strength as human beings to let what we are remembering be realized here and now. The way a person uses their strength is a critical choice for anyone. Our strength is for excellence. Our strength is for manifestation. Ultimately, our strength is in service to a potential that is not just about ourselves but about the whole of the world in which we live.

We use our strength well when we remember what is true and we remember our part in letting that manifest, and when we joyfully play our part in manifesting what is true.

It’s clear that humanity as a whole has, for the most part, forgotten the vital role it plays in the creative process. These verses from the Book of Job tell the story of a man coming to terms with this forgetting. It is posed as an interchange between Job and the voice that speaks to him out of the still point at the center of the creative process, out of the whirlwind.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?(Job 38:1-7)

These words relate to the very beginning of the world, but how about the initiating elements of the creative process in your life? How did they get started? With the people with whom you are walking this life, do you remember how you laid the foundations? How you laid the cornerstones? How you said, “Yes, let this transpire”? Do you remember the original vision and the original blessing for the creative process manifesting in your world?

I observe that when people forget that original vision, they inevitably use their strength to fight it. They fight their own desire for excellence—their desire to manifest their dream. They become cynical about their vision. They fight against others who share it, and they object to the strength that is necessary to live a fulfilled life. And inevitably when that happens, they rail against the creative process in their life. They are fighting the creative process instead of being excellent in it. And they are objecting to what happens when they are not excellent.

Later in Job’s dialogue, he says this:

Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. (Job 40:4)

Have you ever spoken words that, in whatever way, railed against what is? Have you ever come to the point of realizing that this was what you were doing and that it was beneath you? If a person comes to that point in their life, they may realize that it is time to stop giving voice to that spirit. “I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” so that I can be still; so I can hear and remember the original vision and the original blessing for my life. So I can stop using my strength to fight against what is, and use it for excellence. The way it manifests may look different than it has in the past, but the essence of the vision is true.

When Job makes this acknowledgment, he hears a confirmation of who he is and what he is meant to manifest in his life.

Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.” (Job 40:10)

Now is the time to stop railing against what is, if that is what is happening for you, and to remember that you are the creator of your life. You can stand at the center of the whirlwind and be the voice of the Lord in your land. You can be excellent as you manifest what could be, but will never show itself except as you clothe yourself in majesty.