The Word For Today

Often, people make excuses for their poor choices, performance or behaviour, or fail to admit a weakness or shortcoming. Yet we all make mistakes.

One of the best examples of admitting a mistake is found in the account of David being unjustly pursued by King Saul. David became a fugitive, and in the process unknowingly jeopardised the lives of certain priests when he asked for their help. Ahimelech the priest gave him food and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf. Doeg, King Saul's chief herdsman, witnessed the whole thing and squealed on the priest. Saul confronted Ahimelech, accusing him of conspiring with David, and ordered Doeg to kill him and eighty-five other priests and their entire families. 'Only Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, escaped and fled to David. When he told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord, David exclaimed, "I knew it! When I saw Doeg...there that day, I knew he was sure to tell Saul. Now I have caused the death of all your father's family"' (1 Samuel 22:20-22 NLT). What an admission! No excuses, but an acknowledgement that he had made a terrible mistake in seeking their help. His next statement shows his commitment to not repeat the mistake and to making amends whenever possible: 'Stay here with me...I will protect you with my own life, for the same person wants to kill us both' (1 Samuel 22:23 NLT).

Humans make mistakes. They have blind spots. God is present to support our every weakness. Peace comes when we admit our shortcomings to one another.

The first person who tried to discourage David from fighting Goliath was his brother: 'Eliab...burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are...you came down only to watch the battle." "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter' (1 Samuel 17:28-30 NIV). Don't fall into the trap of giving too much thought and consideration to a discourager. Spend your time with those who add to you, not detract from you. Even King Saul told David, 'You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth' (1 Samuel 17:33 NIV).

But David wasn't concerned about how much experience Goliath had, because he knew that his God was all-powerful. How tragic it is when we limit our faith only to what we can see. To think we are inadequate for a task is to engage in self-centredness and focus on our own capabilities apart from God. This independent mindset shuts God out of the equation and ignores the fact that he has declared that his strength is made perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV).

The name 'Eliab', David's older brother, means 'God is my Father'. How ironic, because he had no confidence in God at all. So in order to experience victory, you may first have to overcome the doubts and unbelief of those closest to you.

The Bible begins with these words: 'In the beginning God created the sky and the earth. The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God's Spirit was moving over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good' (Genesis 1:1-4 NCV). Even when your life seems like a jumbled mess, you can trust the God who brought order out of chaos and light out of darkness to help your life make sense.

When you believe that 'All things work together for good' (Romans 8:28 NKJV), it redefines the bad things that happen. The worst day of your life can turn into the best day. There's a silver lining to every cloud, and every downside has a potential upside. When you interpret life through this prism, it gives you confidence that everything is going to be alright. It reassures you that the best is yet to come because God said, 'For I know the plans I have for you...they are plans for good' (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).

But sometimes you have a part to play. God is setting up divine appointments, but you must keep them. God is a gift-giver, but you must fan your gift into flame. God is calling, but you must answer (see Isaiah 6:8). God is ordering your footsteps, but you must keep in step with the Spirit. If you faithfully do your part, you can count on God to do his part - which is to work on your behalf.

Helping the deaf to communicate was what truly motivated Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. Perhaps that's because his mother and his wife were both deaf. For five frustrating and impoverished years, he experimented with a variety of materials to make a metal disc that would vibrate in response to sound, reproduce those sounds and send them over an electrified wire.

During a visit to Washington, DC, Bell called on Joseph Henry, a scientist who was a pioneer in research related to electricity. He presented his ideas to Henry and asked his advice - should he let someone else perfect the telephone or should he do it himself? Henry encouraged Bell to do it himself, to which he complained that he lacked the necessary knowledge of electricity. Henry's brief answer was, 'Then get it.' And so Bell studied electricity. A year later, when he obtained a patent for the telephone, the patent office officials credited him with knowing more about electricity than all the other inventors combined.

Study, work, hope and perseverance are 'common things' that are the keys to uncommon success in life. As Bell discovered, perseverance is often the most challenging. Longfellow wrote: 'The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.' Solomon wrote: 'Do you see a person...efficient in his work? He will serve kings. He will not serve unknown people' (Proverbs 22:29 GWT).

In his book Good to Great, business leader and author Jim Collins compares mega grocery stores A&P, the largest retailing organisation in the world in the 1950s, with Kroger, a small, value-based chain of supermarkets also thriving in the 1950s. Both of these companies realised that the world was changing with technology. Smartly, both companies conducted research and hired qualified analysts to forecast how these changes would impact future business. They each concluded that, going forward, convenience for the customer would be paramount. One-stop shopping was the name of the new shopping game. And Kroger took steps to adjust its stores to the new 'superstore' strategy that we take for granted today. In addition to food, they started to carry toiletries, prescription medicines, household items and more. A&P, however, chose to ignore the findings. The result? In 1999, Kroger generated profits eighty times that of its one-time competitor A&P and took over the number one spot in the market.

To achieve what you want in life, you can't afford to ignore the signs of change or the oncoming challenges. And pretending that something isn't happening is simply living in denial. Like the Sam Cooke song says, 'A change is gonna come.'

Are you ready and willing to adapt to change when it comes? Are the techniques you use to cope proactive and effective? Are you seeking God's guidance and blessing? 'The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding' (Proverbs 2:6 NKJV).

We often cling to people and things as if we can keep everything the same, but it can't be done. What you can do is be ready to deal with change when it happens. You may not be able to predict what the change will be, but you can put things in place to help you to deal with it when it arrives. Children go to university, so wise parents consider saving when their babies are first born. People eventually stop working, so it makes sense to save for retirement. A CEO who will one day step down, plans for a successor so the company can continue to flourish.

Sometimes change is hard, but planning helps us greet change. With God at your side, you have all the tools you need for success, including the flexibility and adaptability to adjust your course whenever necessary. Think of how technology, such as mobile phones and computers, has changed the way we communicate, shop and live. The GPS is an amazing technological innovation, but initially, drivers weren't too happy to embrace it. But it has transformed the experience of finding one's way while driving.

As you navigate the changes of life: (1) Realise that God lives in you, works through you and always has your best interests at heart (see Philippians 2:13). (2) Reach out for the latest tools and techniques, whether they're technological or involve new approaches to family life, diet, exercise or spirituality. In other words, get ready for change.