Welcome to the May 19th 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.
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The Story of My Week
It's interesting the opportunities that pop out just because I decide to step out.
So, I have sent out a few posts saying I'm publishing a book soon.
In response, I have gotten a few ideas from others on extending the book's impact.
Someone in the US who works at a publishing platform contacted me about the possibility of releasing the book through them.
I'm open to further discussions to learn what they really want to do.
In all this, I remember something from over two decades ago.
I had a close friend with whom we met, prayed, and learned. We were committed to knowing and following what God wanted for our lives.
During one of our times of prayers, God gave a word warning him to "beware of distractions coming in the form of attractions".
As it would turn out, not long afterwards, we understood the meaning of that warning.
He got a job offer at a new company, which we felt was the next place he was meant to be. It would mean moving to another state and starting life all over again.
At that same time, his current office started offering him promotions. His role was expanded far beyond what someone with his experience should get. He was set on the fast track.
But he left the "attraction" of the fast track, a "distraction" from the new opportunity God wanted him to lead.
The whole thing comes to mind for me during this season.
I will focus on the most important thing - getting this book out in short time and giving it the most opportunity for most people to access it.
Anything else that takes away from this is a distraction.
No matter how attractive it might look.
Things I Learnt
1 - The Vanishing Nature of Trust: During the week, my company, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, gave out support materials to help some of the small businesses in the community where some of our projects were located.
I was there as the C-level executive representative of the company.
The event went without any significant hiccups.
One of my colleagues told me an interesting story after we had concluded the distribution.
He had gone around the community to assess the various businesses and compile the names of the ones we would give support materials.
He said one of the business owners he met didn't believe there were no strings attached to our giving.
He said the business owner believed we would come to surcharge him for the support - it cannot be completely free.
My colleague said he was happy that the guy, despite the scepticism, came and got the support material.
The guy was surprised that it was just how my colleague had told him - it's free and no strings attached.
Trust is becoming a disappearing commodity.
I hope many more of us will bring trust back into the business world.
2 - Restoring Prayer: I have struggled to keep my prayer times or rhythms.
It's been on for a few weeks.
I haven't sat down to think about what I could do to get my prayer game back on.
Until this week.
I realized I needed some help.
I'm in a season where I'm on the road more, and my family is not with me as much as I like.
This sense of aloneness has crept into my prayer life.
I want the comfort of the "presence of other people" in my private prayer time.
It sounds like an oxymoron.
But I understood what it was.
I'm part of the leadership of my home church in Senegal. One of the things we do is practice Listening Prayer during our meetings.
On Wednesday, we had a prayer meeting on Zoom. As we did our listening prayer, I enjoyed God's presence with other saints.
So, I decided to reawaken my prayer rhythm with the silence of others being present.
I found non-intrusive, soft, instrumental prayer-driven music on YouTube to play in the background during my prayer time.
After doing it for 2-3 days, I found my mojo.
I don't need the music to do it anymore.
Thank God for help from others
Postscript
May you serve others in a way that builds their trust in people's ability to do good without having sinister motives. Amen
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Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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