Principle Number Nine
Striking a balance Part 3
Pastor Mosomane
Our purpose will be fulfilled if we could end up helping people see and take advantage of opportunities around them; maintain a balanced and informed mind and become resourceful. Let us be wise enough not to put the horse in front of the cart. Inspiration without information and skill will only destroy our life. Life is too delicate to be messed around with. It is important to maintain common sense and not rush things.
The Word of God we preach will give you faith since “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17 Faith that comes through the Word of God is wholesome. God cannot lead you to do things that will be detriment to your life and bring shame to His Name. May we be cautious enough not to bring disrepute and dishonor to the Word of God.
Note: If it is God who says hold back, I encourage you to obey for “…they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” Isaiah 40:31. If God says to wait: do so with all your heart and be at rest for He will be saying to you: son I am in control. Many times when God intervenes this way in people’s lives He will be having something better in store for them. Acting contrary to His warning will only harm you. God cannot deny you opportunities when they are in line with His will for your life. He says I’ve got plans to prosper you. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
What we are addressing here is indecision and procrastination in the name of safety. Often times, opportunities pass us by because of our unwillingness to make decisions. It is better to make a incorrect decision that not to make any at all. Many people fail with good ideas because they never act upon them. They are so careful they don’t want to make mistakes. If you don’t want to make mistakes, don’t do anything at all. As long as you are on earth you will make mistakes and no one will kill you for that. All of us make mistakes at one time or another. We must just be careful not to make the same mistake over and over. Jesus is the only one who never made mistakes for He is God. He’s got all the attributes that make God, God. He is the only One who is infallible.
Mistakes are to be treated as a learning curve. They are good opportunities to contrast what should be and what it is not. When you know what something is not, you are closer to knowing what it is. Some things are better explained by telling what they are not before you even attempt to explain what they are.
Every time you hit the undesired spot (I would rather say I have hit an undesired spot than say I have failed) you eliminate the undesired spots. The more you eliminate them, the more you come closer to the desired target. A successful man is one who has eliminated more mistakes and is left with few. The road to success is the road in which those who travel it eradicate mistakes all the way.
It is not advisable to advance safety just because you are afraid you will lose. Jesus said; “….from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” Matthew 1:12. Not violent in a negative way; but with undeniable persistence, with ardent zeal and intense exertion. Successful people don’t have the best opportunities than anyone else; they have just learned to see beyond the visible. They plough in famine for they have come to realize that it is those who sow in famine who reap in the same year a hundredfold. They have come to realize that “He who observe the wind will not sow; and he who regard the clouds will not reap” Ecclesiastes 11:4.
This third servant was afraid he would lose his master’s money but he eventually lost double. He lost the value of his master’s money (through inflation) and his portion in his master’s estate. “And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” Matthew 25:25. He failed to enter into his master’s kingdom. “So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” Matthew 25:28-30
One should be careful; yes, it is necessary. But be careful not to lose it all while you are trying to protect it all. “I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth.” I don’t know about you; but every time I hide something I forget where I hid it. I end up losing it altogether.
What you don’t use you lose. It works automatic. Ambition unused diminishes. Courage unused melts away like a piece of fat in a frying pan. Faith unused becomes less and less; it does not increase. Potential unused declines. If you don’t use your time you lose it. If you don’t use your ideas you lose them. The play-it-safe servant lost it all. Don’t follow his steps.
The best way to defend is to attack. The best way to protect your talent is to use it. The best way to protect your money is to trade with it. What you use multiplies and what you don’t use, you lose. I rather lose my money trying to increase it that lose it trying to protect it. The pain of losing money in business is not as severe as the pain of losing it in robbery.
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