Insights & Musings for Prospering Christians

God Works Things Out For Our Good, Not Our Comfort

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

I was recently talking to an Indonesian pastor at a church gathering that had me reflecting on this verse. The conclusion of my reflection? Our perception of good is not always in alignment with God’s perception of good.

What may seem good for me in the moment—perhaps the cutting off of a process that I utterly despise (such as cold calling to generate sales)—is not necessarily good, for me. You see, I abhor making cold calls, and I have been prolonging this process over quite a few months now. I’ll make excuses like, “I’ll call my leads tomorrow,” and “I’m just too busy at the moment.” Excuse after excuse masking the reality that I simply despised the way these calls would make me feel.

It’s come to a moment now where I HAVE to do cold lead calls because the other avenues by which business has been knocking at our door has dried up. It almost feels as if this is an obstacle to overcome, but not in the way that I first perceived it. Perhaps, God all this time wants me to grow in my character through these cold calls. Now, why would I think that?

Well, for starters, any rejections I received would cause me to think that I am:

• Worthless
• Needing to change Industries
• Not valued

And the list goes on. God’s perspective? I need to change the way I think, and the only way that’s going to change is if I learn to handle rejection to the point that it doesn’t affect my character.

People have differing interests, and with picking up the phone from a complete stranger, of course they’re not attacking me when they reject the offer—they’re just rejecting the offer. However, until I learn not to internalize it, then I must continue to train this muscle until it is no longer weak, but strong.

The Indonesian Pastor gave me these words of wisdom:

God works things out for our good, NOT our comfort.

Repeat that statement enough times until it sinks in.

All this time I have been seeking comfort, but what if I need to go through this step in order to walk into something that God has for me in the near future? God is so loving that He won’t allow us to take shortcuts. Jesus had no shortcuts in accomplishing the will of the Father; Following the Father’s will meant death on the cross, and by no means would that cup be relinquished.

I know what I have to do, so I am constantly filling up my CRM with leads to cold call! What about you? Is there anything you don’t deem as good that perhaps, thought about from God’s perspective, would actually turn out for your good should you see it through?

Let’s cling to the Lord together as we navigate this side of eternity, knowing that God works things together for our good, and not our comfort.

Question to Ponder

• What uncomfortable process am I avoiding that could be a blessing in disguise?

My Story on Stewarding Time

During the early years of my marriage, a time when I was struggling with self-discipline, I realized how poorly I had used my spare time over many years.

I was reflecting on my junior and senior high school years and a game I used to play alone and with friends called Monster Hunter Portable for the PSP. One day, as I was loading the game and my character, I noticed something peculiar. When loading your character, the game displays your playtime, indicating how long you have played with that character profile. At the time, the number seemed like a badge of honor, showing that I had played for over 1,000 hours. But as I reflected on that time, I realized it was no badge of honor at all.

I had a thought: "I wonder how long this is in terms of a full-time job?" I grabbed my digital notebook and calculator and found the numbers increasingly disturbing as I calculated:

• 40 hours in a week
• 4 weeks in a month, with some extra days — about 176 hours of full-time work per month
• 1,000 hours of playtime divided by 176 equates to nearly 6 months of full-time work

Six months of full-time work, all spent on ONE game—not to mention the time spent on other forms of entertainment, from binge-watching Netflix and other streaming channels to playing other video games. This was six months of full-time work that did not develop my real-world skills in any way. This was six months of full-time work that could have been spent learning what I longed to do: Web Development, Software Engineering, Painting, Illustrations, etc. What made matters more serious for me was the reality that as a believer in Jesus Christ, when my time on this earth ends, I will have to give an account of how I lived my life. If my aim is to be fully pleasing to God, then time wasted on such things could no longer be tolerated.

By comparing my time to a full-time job, self-discipline became a natural byproduct as I acknowledged how wastefully I had been spending my time, selfishly indulging in entertainment that did nothing to build me up. This wasted potential could have been used to build others up through the expression of my gifts and talents.

How about you? When was the last time you checked how much time you were truly spending on peripheral matters instead of focusing on what matters most? Go and run the numbers. What do they tell you?

Do something about those numbers to steward your time better—whether that means learning and growing in a new skill, or spending meaningful time building up precious family and friends.

I hope this story serves you as it has served me.

Questions to Ponder

• How am I currently spending my time?
• What are some of the things I could be doing to steward my time better?

Daily Reminder to be Still and Embrace God's Love For You

When life feels incredibly busy and taxing to the soul, remember the Lord and His love for you. It's easy for us to look at the present circumstances that weigh heavy upon us, and if we're not careful, we'll allow it to affect the way we treat those around us.

I feel this way today, and if Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts with all diligence for from it flows the issues of life, the last thing I want to do is exacerbate it and allow the issues to create new issues in and around me.

'Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.'

Take a moment to pause today and ask God for His grace (divine empowerment) to endure the day. Ask Him for strength and wisdom to help you solve whatever problems lay before you. Be still before His presence and acknowledge Him, basking in His great love for you.

Time with the Lord is never wasted.

Questions to Ponder

• How often do I allow the issues of life to affect me and in turn, those around me?
• What can I practically do to ensure I prioritize retreating into God's arms in my day to day?

The Excitement of Living With Vision

There is nothing like living your life with vision—with purpose! I use an exclamation point here because I know what it’s like living without a vision, and it’s not fun! Living without a vision produced boredom that led me toward dissatisfaction and discouragement, causing me to embrace terrible sin habits like pornography to ‘cope’ with my lack of satisfaction. I never really coped, however, as the act of pornography and masturbation just led to my feeling emptier and paralyzed, unable to decide what to apply my mind to because of how condemned I felt sinning against the God I serve (and hurting my wife in the process).

Proverbs 29:18 says it best:

‘Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.‘

Living with vision should be exciting because God created you for good works that you should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Currently I have been working on getting our company Arising Co to a stable $10,000/month, and have made many mistakes along the way. Though we are halfway there, I have hope knowing that the vision God has given my wife and I to help others arise to their God-given potential through our lives will also be realized in this endeavor as we help people and companies with websites that bring them leads and customers.

It’s like Jesus responding to His disciples that His food is to do the will of His Father. When we’re in the will of God, our sustenance and energy comes from living out His will for our lives. Knowing that this element of business is of His will excites me because I know that every good and perfect gift comes from Him, and that He will certainly use this experience in ways I never conceived (and already has).

Aside from loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, as well as loving my neighbor as myself and making disciples, I get to take on this assignment to proclaim His glory wherever it may land. That’s something to be excited about!!

What are you currently pursuing in terms of God's will for your life? Are you excited? I encourage you to keep pushing forward despite moments of discouragement. God is faithful, and as we remain consistent, we will see the fruit of our endeavors and be transformed in our character, that we may be more like Jesus day after day and faithfully pursue God's will in all circumstances ahead.

Questions to Ponder

• What unique purpose has God called me to fulfill in this life? Am I living up to that purpose?
• How can I use my talents and gifts to serve God and others?
• Am I actively seeking God's guidance in my career, business, relationships, and daily decisions?
• How can I cultivate a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ?