Proverbs 14:12 KJV – There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
We have all been bombarded with invitations to financial and estate planning seminars and have seen an enormous amount of advertising for them. In the financial and estate planning world, we call these events “plate lickers” because usually you have to entice people to attend by having food. I have held seminars and even taught adult education classes with other professionals. Generally, these events and programs have a certain way of teaching the attendee to think about the planning. I was part of such a course as an instructor and in the course of taking notes, I really began to think about what was being taught. The class consisted of about 35 to 40 people, all of whom were nearing retirement or already retired. I saw fear in their eyes and they all wanted to learn as much as possible to avoid failure in their planning. Most of them were still working very hard and had just barely made it on time to the class after a long day of work and fighting through traffic to get there. I could tell that many had eaten their dinner in the car and felt rushed to even get to the classroom.
Most people do not even take the time to attend such a course. This one was not just one day, but many weeks long. They also paid quite a bit of money to attend. I had never even thought much beyond the teaching that was very mainstream in terms of financial advice and planning. As my heart became convicted about this, I began to take careful notes. It seemed that my eyes were blinded with glaring truth about the fallacy of the mainstream ideas that is sold to everyone out there desperately seeking advice. Not all of the advice is faulty, but the emphasis was very much off of the foundation on which it needed to be built.
Everyone has a plan. Turn on the news. We are in the middle of presidential primaries and all desperately waiting for a plan to save our future and make our present more bearable. So much time and energy is spent cranking out these plans and the means to get the plans to the masses or to their target audience.
In the end, none of these plans create total success and the means to achieve only partial success are faulty. They all lack one thing – they all severely lack God. Proverbs, 14:12 KJV says “There is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” How much more could we optimize success if we spent the same amount of time and energy with God than without God?
Honestly, the “professionals” that are teaching and advising are just as confused as those they are advising. Their businesses are struggling and their personal lives are chaotic. Yet, we are still told that we need their help and we pay thousands of dollars for advice we could probably come up with ourselves. Don’t misunderstand me, there are good advisors out there and they do try hard. Some even have good motives. However, what I am saying is that we can’t just take advice without examining it. The advice we listen to in these areas affects our lives in such an important way that we can’t afford to take such a chance. It is not wrong to work with an advisor, but if you do, keep God at the center of your decisions. Think about what you are being told. Is there fear in the advice. As Christians, we should not be making decisions out of fear.
We need to seriously shake things up in our thinking to avoid covetousness, which is a way of thinking that is a natural, carnal mindset that doesn’t include God. For example, have you ever been told that you need to go to school, study hard, make good grades, get into college, so you can get a good job to make a good salary? Christians even fall into the trap of thinking this way. I know I did. The point is that we have to get to the point where we know that we can do nothing without God. Our success is not by working hard, hoarding money, studying all hours of the day and night, or working around the clock. Just examine your life. Look at the lives of those around you. Trying hard is really a self centered view. We have to include God and know that we are totally 100% dependent on him for our success. This does not mean that we can be lazy. It means that our focus shifts and we rid ourselves of faulty mindsets. We have to renew our mind daily to do this. It has taken me years to filter through all of the faulty thinking and I am sure that I have more left to do.
We do need to take action, but we must act with God, not apart from God. Put God’s will above our own. In the end, our plan should be God’s plan. It will seem unconventional and that is because it is. But, go with it. It is the absolute only way you can be freed of fear and have total peace.