An invitation to the school of wisdom!
How to succeed this year?[1]
It was from an elder in the faith for whom I have great appreciation, Raïssa Mutamba, that I first heard this statement: “When you pray, pray as if everything depended on God and his grace, but when the time comes to work, work as if everything depended on you and your efforts”.
Shalom to all. I wish you an excellent new year. A year of success in all respects… however, this is only a wish and does not guarantee that on the next January 1st you will have only memories of success from this year!
So beyond the wishes the team in charge of the organization of this party wanted us to reflect together, from this first day on “How to succeed in your year?”
The magic formula: It does not exist!
It would be a bit naive to expect a 25 year old like me to give you a complete and definitive answer to this question. Especially since we often have generally different definitions of what success is, but for us children of God we know that it is simply being in accordance with God’s plans, so let’s read together Proverbs 8:14 “Counsel and success are mine; I am the understanding, the strength is mine.”
But let’s read it in its context, Proverbs 8 in full Here
Success belongs to wisdom and therefore who better than wisdom to lead us to success?
Wisdom gives counsel; and “for those who listen to and practice the advice that wisdom gives, success is predictable. The reverse is also true
The counsel is meant to be simple, clear, to the point where it seems “too simple to be true” and yet…
And so, as you will have understood, this time is meant to be a time of advice. The instruction I received from the organizing committee is to bring you, not a preaching, or a teaching, but advice… I encourage you to do at least these 4 things: listen, hear, understand and practice (Matthew 13)…
The Foundation: Living as a good Christian every day!
Here is the most important, the most concise, but perhaps also the most difficult foundation counsel.
Young and eager to do God’s will that we were, we used to ask my previous pastor : Pastor, how to discover and fulfill your destiny? And he used to answer us: “Just live as a good Christian every day… and I guarantee you that you will not fail to fulfill your destiny…”. As I meditate on this and grow in my relationship with God, I realize more and more how profound and relevant this answer is.
- Colossians 2, 3 :My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Counsel 1: Choose your friends well
We all know the famous
- 1 Corinthians 15, 33 : Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
Be do we also know
- Proverbs 18, 24 ? One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
What do we do with them ? In addition to avoiding bad company, are we also taking the trouble to build real friendships?
What is your friendship based on and what are/will be the fruits of it?
Counsel 2 : Adopting excellence as a standard
One of the first people who marked me after my arrival in this local church two and a half years ago was a brother named Fabrice, because of the excellence he attaches to everything he does… I often repeat this phrase to myself, in my studies, at work, in my personal projects or for clients, in my service to God…: “Good must not be enough, excellent must be the standard, in search of perfection”.
I recommend you, as it was also my case, to adopt it as a principle of life.
Counsel 3 : Accept the price now and rejoice later!
A popular French-speaking pastor in those days wrote in one of his books: “You may decide to rejoice now and pay the price later you may decide to pay the price now and rejoice later, But either way, life will claim its due”…
- Proverbs 12,27 : “The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.”
Where did the sloth find game to begin with? The lazy man is not the one who does not want to do anything, but the one who does half-heartedly or not at the right time what he has to do… and if this passage does not seem clear to you, consider this one as well
- Proverbs 26,15 : “A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.”
Of two students, one will be “up to date”, trendy, cool by following all the latest trendy series and will have fair results and almost no skills, and the other will not be “up to date”, trendy, cool because he will follow the same series only during his vacations, but he will have good results and quite good skills…
Of two newly employed graduates, one will have hundreds of likes on Instagram thanks to his photos in fancy clothes, at fancy restaurants… while the other will remain unknown while buying stock in startups, learning how the stock market works and making investments in it… and 10 years later, one will be struggling to make it through the months despite having a full job, while the other will be retiring early to truly be an entrepreneur…
Of two parents, one will be hip because he is always present at parties with friends and after work, while the other will be a nerd because he is always at home with his kids after work, but 20 years later, one will never talk about his kids among his friends while the other will only have this subject on his lips…
Accept to pay the price now and enjoy later!
Will you make this choice ?
Counsel 4 : Getting to know yourself and making the most of this self-knowledge
- Exode 31,1-5: Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. …
- 1 Timothy 4,12 : Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity…
- 2 Corinthians 10 : 1 By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. …9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present…
Counsel 5 : Choose humility!
In form 5 (3 years before getting GCE Advanced Level | end of High School), we had the math teacher with the most difficult exams in high school, to the point where he even refused to let us take the same harmonized term exams as the other form 5 because he found them too easy.
At the first evaluation, in a class of almost 100 students, there were barely 10 grades that were higher than 10 out of 20, even though we were a bit of an elite sophomore class, with the majority of the best students in all of the ninth grade classes having chosen this major…
50% of the class had a grade between 0 and 0.5. 20% between 0.75 and 2.5 (my category XD). 10% between 3 and 10 and the rest of the 10% over 10…
However, we had a classmate, “a big sister”, an aunty, who although of the same age, almost always had 20/20 in mathematics…
Well, you know what? I became her student and later her friend, a friendship that I think has benefited both of us…
- Being small in front of a better student than you and learning from him or her or not: a question of humility.
- Admit your ignorance in front of a colleague and learn from his expertise or not: a question of humility.
- Admitting to be wrong in front of your children and giving them an example to follow or not: a question of humility.
- To recognize that God is right even when I don’t understand his will or not: a question of humility…
James 4, 6 : …“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
Do you want God to resist you or give you grace ?
Counsel 6 : Very well choose where/in what to invest your most precious resource: Time
So which investment will we make? (1) or (2)
- (1) Netflix or (2) Coursera/EDX/FUN MOOC/Udemy/PluralSight… ?
- (1) Harlequin novel or (2) Rich Dad Poor Dad/ The 5 languages of Love/ Atomic Habits/ Unveilling Paul’s Women/ The Man In The Miroir/ Strong Enough to Last/ The Richest Man In Babylon / Le modèle parfait… ?
- (1) A night of playing video games or (2) a night of study, prayer, reading , practical exercise… ?
- (1) find a new lender or (2) pay off your debts ?
- (1) The foreign woman or (2) the woman of your youth ?
- (1) seeking money/glory or (2) serving God?
Matthew 6, 21 : …For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
Not always a question of right or wrong: But what is your priority?
Counsel 7 : Have good advisors/mentors!
- Proverbs 15,22 : “Plans fail for lack of counsel,but with many advisers they succeed.”
et
- Proverbs 11,14 : “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.”
The bible is full of examples in this sense that we probably know…
Moses and Jethro (Exodus 18, establish elders and delegates); Bath-sheba and Nathan (1 Kings 1, come and listen to my advice and so save your life and that of your son Solomon); Rehoboam and the young men/old men (1 Kings 12, be gracious to the people or be hard on them); Paul and Timothy (2 Timothy 3; you have closely observed my life, you know my resolutions, my persecutions… you can be inspired by them…)
In Summary: Take inspiration from the best counselor (who no is not your mom this time, sorry, but):
Wisdom Herself
- Proverbs 8,14 : “Counsel and sound judgment (success) are mine; I have insight, I have power.”
- Ecclesiastes 7,12 : “Wisdom is a shelteras money is a shelter,but the advantage of knowledge is this:Wisdom preserves those who have it.”
- 1 Corinthians 2,6 : “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.”
- James 3,17 : “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
I would like to say these things in even simpler terms, but time will not permit today so here is my summary and final recommendation:
Listen to the Wisdom…
does she not shout? Doesn’t she raise her voice?…
May God give us all now to practice it.
Happy New Year to all!
[1] The organizing team of the New Year’s party of my current local church (EEAM Marrakech) entrusted me to share 15 minutes of advice on this theme on January 1st. So this is the written version of what I shared.
Good word! It is sound and I appreciate the reminder as well.
Great! Glory to Jesus
All is true! I love how each point is supported with a biblical reference. Indeed the word of God has everything we need.
Yes, The Word has everything we need.
Willy, this advice is excellent and so well organized! Bravo!!!
Thanks Anita.