Welcome to the March 12th 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
I had a not-so-great week.
A not-so-great week but a grateful week.
Not-so-great because I didn’t achieve some of the major goals I set for the week.
Even for goals that didn’t depend fully on me, it’s still my responsibility.
Because they are my goals.
As long as I own them, the responsibility is mine.
Grateful week because I made progress.
In some areas, I took courageous actions.
Actions that took me outside my comfort zone.
Next week. I aim to end the week on a great and grateful note.
Great because I hit significant goals.
And grateful because I made progress.
Things I Learnt
1-God Runs Things, Even Government: Sunday was the first time my mastermind was meeting since the Nigerian presidential elections.
Most of us are from Nigeria. During one of the guy’s updates, he talked about the downer emotions he and others had to deal with after the results were announced.
Their preferred choice didn’t win.
I piggybacked on that to give a Christian view on governance.
As Christians, we are expected to have a choice and vote in an election.
The outcome, even if he or she is not our choice will still be used by God for good.
And they will even do good when they are trying to be selfish because God can use that trait for good.
Case in point, Cyrus, the boss.
Isaiah prophesied the freedom of the Israelites from Babylon's captivity through a king named Cyrus.
And Cyrus did the job.
What you may not know is that he did this for all the countries that the Babylonians had enslaved and taken their items of worship into captivity.
According to the Cyrus cylinder, (discovered in March 1879) he did that so that all the countries would go back and build their temples of worship.
And during their worship times, they should pray for his prosperity and kingdom growth.
Cyrus didn’t have the good of the people in mind when he issued the decree.
But it was for the good of God’s people.
Don't take my word for it. You can read Cyrus' words.
"May all the gods whom I settled in their sacred centers ask daily of Bêl and Nâbu that my days be long and may they intercede for my welfare. ... The people of Babylon blessed my kingship, and I settled all the lands in peaceful abodes" The Cyrus cylinder (c. 538 B.C), as translated at Livius.org
And the same goes for now.
Anyone who gets to run the government will serve the good of God’s people.
Even if they have a selfish agenda
Q.E.D
2-Courage for the Times: The word that launched my new season was COURAGE.
And I started running with it at the end of 2022.
During the week, I need to do something that would take me out of my comfort zone.
I almost did not want to do it - until something popped up on my feed. The person reminded me why what I was doing is important.
And so I did it.
God provides the right encouragement from unusual sources when we need it so that we can pursue the things He has put in our hearts.
He will always keep doing that.
Because He is more concerned about our progress than we are concerned about it.
Postscript
May you find the encouragement you need to keep your confidence unshaken when things get tougher than you expected. 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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