Welcome to the November 8th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story Of My Week
Unless you have been hiding under the rock, you couldn't have missed the biggest news event since COVID stormed our lives.
Yes, it was the US presidential election.
Because I'm not an American, I was not emotionally invested in it.
And I have heard arguments from both sides of the divide and I am glad I don't have to make any choice.
My perception of elections is that it is just an opportunity for people to express their choice.
The choice may not be well-liked but it must be respected.
A few weeks ago, I read an article by Pastor John Piper who wrote that because he could not align with either of the main candidates, he was abstaining from voting. That is an expression of a choice.
My perception of government is that even though it can be a tool for doing good, it is not the ultimate tool for good.
If God can orchestrate the coming to power of a wicked king, then I will not place too much judgment on people who exercise their choice differently from my perspective.
By the way, I'm referring to Pharaoh - But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16.
God brought him into power and allowed all his plans to succeed up till that point. This is possibly a reason why he couldn't fathom that a being could come between him and his plans for the Israelite slaves!
Every government has good and bad in it - it is the goodness in a government that allows it to last more than 1 day in power. A completely bad government would not last beyond the start date.
Now the emotions are going down a notch.
We can resume our normal lives
Life in a way completely different from what we knew before
It's the new normal
Things I Learnt
1-The Death of Meetings: At work, I got additional responsibilities. The bigger impact of these responsibilities is that I have a bit more autonomy in my time.
In simple lingo, I have more control over what gets on my calendar.
It's a good thing that over the years, I have listened to and read people like Michael Hyatt. One of the things that Michael wrote about in one of his books, "No Fail Meetings", he said that while deciding on who should be invited, you need to ask what value they bring to the meeting.
I had to play that card this week when I got a meeting request.
I responded to the person "what value do you expect me to bring to the meeting?"
Well, he could not articulate it so that was a meeting I dodged.
My experience is that most people just add anyone possible to a meeting attendee list.
I am not going to be one of those token attendees with no strong value to offer
It's time to protect my time better
2-God of Small Miracles: Last week we noticed that our baby is ready for a walker. My wife & I looked for the right one. But we decided to wait before making a buy.
We were waiting for a deal to pop up - Black Friday is coming
But during the week, we got a deal we could not refuse.
Another mother in our church posted that her daughter was ready to give up her walker and she wanted to know if anyone was interested.
The best part of the deal - it was free.
Yes, some of the best things in life are free.
My wife and I did not pray about it but our father who is more concerned about us than we could be concerned about ourselves went ahead to solve that problem.
Another way that God shows us that He loves us as His children.
Before we asked, He had stepped in to meet the need.
The God of big miracles is also the God of small miracles
He is the God of all miracles.
Even the ones we haven't asked for
Postscript
May you see God come through for you in ways that exceed your imaginations (Amen)
Tata,
Tola
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