God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello,

Today I’d like to talk to you about enjoying all the best parts of life, which for many of us includes personal time each day, good health, friendships, daily family time, prosperity and a good work/life balance – basically having our cake and eating it too.

The Old Testament is the beginning of God’s instructions to us. This is the start of God leading His people and the blessings that follow when the Israelites were obedient. A long list of blessings and curses are listed in Deuteronomy chapter 28 and they are worth reading.

If you have refused to read the Bible because the language seems old fashioned and difficult to follow, try again! There are several different translations to choose from- and every translation can be interpreted by The Holy Spirit living within you, helping you understand the Lord’s message. Don’t use your human intellect to discount the validity of the Bible due to the different translations. Anyone who has a desire to know God can find true understanding when they are sincere.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart.” (Jer 29:13 NIV)

God truly wants everyone to live a full, happy, healthy, peaceful life. A balanced life, one with staying power and strength for the difficult seasons that are inevitable in life.  But we seem to get pulled into the mentality that the only way to a full life is by pushing hard day in, day out, like everyone else- accumulating wealth so that we can retire comfortably. But this hard work is done at the expense of other blessings like our health, peace of mind or time with loved ones.

God never desires us to set aside or neglect one blessing in order to chase another. Meaning, followers of the Lord who seek God’s guidance for a better work/life balance, will be lead away from a job that encroaches on family time or causes our health to suffer. God has better ideas- ideas that are secret and hidden from us. He will lead us to these new opportunities once we spend time in His presence by reading the Bible.

“I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”(Isaiah 45:3 NIV))

God knows all. He knows where the best career oppotunities are located- jobs that will benefit us intellectually while providing enough money to live on while working sane managable hours.  This is not to say that we will be on track to be a millionaire with this job- the Lord isn’t interested in doling out cash that will be spent ONLY on our pleasures.

“You do not have because you do not ask God. And when you do ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives; that you may squander it on your pleasures.”(James 4:2b-3 NIV)

When I stated that we can have our cake and eat it too, I meant that if we follow Jesus’ teachings we will be lead to situations that offer us other options for our work life. If we trust the Lord and step out in faith by putting people (our family) before money, we will find that we have more than enough. The more we trust the Lord and walk in faith, the more He will teach us. Eventually He will give us our purpose- the task He would like us to do for Him in order to benefit His world. And in order to accomplish our purpose, we need time. If we are exhausted from our primary job- we simply won’t be effective bringing others into the body of Christ

“Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.”

(Prov 23:4-5)

We all have a purpose beyond collecting a paycheck, and it is up to us to get close enough to the Lord to find out what it is. It’s a process. It may take years of sitting daily with the Bible in our lap learning and falling in love with our perfect Father in heaven. After we develop this relationship with the Lord and learn His ways we make the choice- do we actually follow what we have been taught and believe in God’s power or do we simply gain knowledge of God and limit our own blessings?

God is our healer, provider, sustainer, and our internal peace. He has mighty blessing for those with true faith who follow Him.

We can “have our cake and eat it too” enjoying a full life with a great work/life balance- protected from many of the problems the secular world has to deal with due to their frantic lifestyles. This then frees us up to take part in the Great Commission- spreading the Word about the love of God and His offer of divine peace and joy here on earth. Not to mention, we will receive a beautiful life in eternity.

God has everything we need written down in the best selling book of all time- The Holy Bible. Will you read it this year, slowly and reverently, asking the Holy Spirit to help you understand it? If you do, and you commit to following the teachings revealed to you- your life will look completely different by December 31, 2020.

I encourage you to do just that.

All my best,

Lisa