God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Having been in quarantine with extra time on my hands I found myself perusing the internet quite a bit more than usual. During this time I found many YouTube videos on productivity. These websites are teaching people how to be successful by the standard of the general public. They promote awakening at 5 am to workout and plan the “To Do” list for the day in order to get a head start on the day. The carrot dangling above the viewers, is the glamorous world of success- namely wealth.  These websites, for the most part, are selling “The Law of Attraction” (aka L.O.A.)

The L.O.A. actually works in many respects, yet it is dangerous and will most definitely cause pain, even if we achieve that which we set out to do. They instruct people to affirm what they want, so that the so called “universe” can hear us and help us towards our goals.

Speaking anything out loud allows Satan and all the evil forces in the world hear what we are trying to achieve. Then Satan does his best to lure us into excessive work and stress. Satan’s goal is to kill, steal and destroy.

^” The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My(Jesus) purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”(John 10:10)

So if Satan knows you are making massive effort towards your dreams, he will lure you with enticements when you are hungry, angry, tired or lonely.  The “Satanic” situations in life are those that go against the Lord’s teachings; examples being prioritizing family after the goal of making money or prioritizing self and selfish goals over helping another succeed or simply making anything more important than the Lord.

There was a movie out several years ago called “Bruce Almighty” with Jim Carry. Bruce was given God’s ability to do whatever he wanted in life. Of course Bruce used his newfound power for selfish reasons and things went poorly in his life. As he received more and more of his selfish desires, others in his life and others in the world were having their needs go unmet. Receiving what we want in life without consulting the Lord, will always carry with it a negative.

God has given human beings the skill, knowledge and ability to chase after dreams and actually achieve them. There is an example in the bible that talks about the tower of Babel and how God was angry when He saw His people had built a tall tower in order to make a name for themselves and be famous. He stepped in and stopped the process by confusing their language because if He didn’t, He said “nothing will be impossible for them to do”(Gen 11:6b)

Human beings have been given intelligence and ability to create many wonderful businesses, buildings, medicines, etc however the Lord desires to be a part of our plans because without His full knowledge of the complete result- many things will eventually turn out poorly at best.

The Law of Attraction is powerful and can call in the powers of Satan to assist us towards the goal. But, as with everything Satan has a hand in, it will end up destroying many things such as:

our freedom- due to overwork;

our family- due to excessive work;

our humility- due to achievements without acknowledgement of the Lord’s help;

our coping mechanisms- so we start to drink, eat, shop, exercise or use drugs in an excessive way.

Jesus, our omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Savior needs to be the one in control of our lives. He gave us the ability to rule the earth, but Scripture reminds us to go to God with our plans and ask Him what He thinks of them. Many people do go to Scripture for direction but they end up taking  verses out of context. Below I listed verses that appear as if they are giving us the go- ahead to chase after any dream or desire.

 “And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” – Matthew 21:22

 “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” – Matthew 7:7

“If thou can believe, all things are possible, to him that believeth.” – Mark 9.23

 “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” – Proverbs 23:7

 “According to your faith, shall it be done to you.” – Matthew 9:29

If we place our desires into the hand of God, praying for His guidance and His timing to receive our prayer requests, He will orchestrate a beautiful life for us. We may not get everything we ask for, but a Jesus follower will receive joy, peace and satisfaction in life. Best of all, there is no overwork with the Lord- that would be contrary to Scripture which tells us to rely on God and let Him put His yoke upon us:

^” Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”(Matt 11:29-30)

God is a good God. He desires to be included in our plans so that we don’t fail in one aspect of our life as we succeed in another.  Therefore, reading Scripture is our best defense against being lead away from God’s joy filled manageable life into a life of slavery in the name of success.

Food For Thought,

Lisa