16 Jul Wall Street or Gold Street…which one are you trusting in? Part 4
Over the last number of weeks, we began discussing “8 Principles to Prosper in Recessionary Times”:
1. Tithing (Proverbs 3:9-10), (Heb. 7:1-8)
2. Budgeting (Proverbs 21:5)
3. Working (II Thes. 3:10, Prov. 10:4).
This week, let’s continue…
4. Thinking (Prov. 21:5).
Here the Bible tells us, “The plans of the diligent maketh rich…”. Don’t just work hard, work smart. I recently read a story of a young man who worked on an oil rig in the 70’s. He didn’t just work hard, he watched, listened and learned how to repair machinery when it broke down. Now whenever there was a problem with the machinery on the oil rig, they would call this young man. Soon word got out about the young man’s expertise. Then other oil rigs began to call for his services. The young man continued to work hard and think. He thought if he could train other young men to repair their oil rigs, he could in essence be at multiple sites at once. So he started his own company. That young man went on to be a successful multi-millionaire…all because he thought while he worked!
A few years back a housewife who had become miserably depressed came to see a well-known pastor. She went through all the litany of things that made her miserable. She had no significance, her husband was inattentive, and her children were misbehaving. On and on she went as she verbalized her misery. After she had finished the wise pastor simply leaned over his desk ignoring the list of why she was so depressed and simply said, “What can you do?” “What can I do?”, she replied. “Didn’t you hear all these reasons I cited for having such a miserable life!?” Again the pastor calmly asserted, “What can you do?” This time she thought about it and said, “Well, I can bake great cookies.” The pastor then said, “Go home and bake cookies and give them to people in the nursing home and in the prisons.”
The discretionary pastor knew this woman’s problems didn’t have anything to do with her list, but everything to do with who she was constantly thinking about…herself! She went home and began to bake and think. She distributed these tasty cookies in nursing homes and prisons. The demand for her cookies began to spread so much so that she started her own ministry all based on her cookies! She is now distributing tens of thousands of those cookies ministering effectively for the Lord Jesus Christ!
Don’t just see problems, solve problems! All of the children of Israel saw Goliath but none of them had the courage to do anything about the problem! David solved the problem! Solving the problem was the road to David’s promotion! Remember this…in life you will be remembered and rewarded for the problems you created or the problems you solved!
Expose yourself to higher levels of learning through people, books, CD’s, conferences, etc. as from ideas come ideas. The more I go in life and ministry, the more I understand the importance of creative thinking! I spend a good portion of my day simply thinking. I purposely have my staff take care of so many administrative tasks so I can be free to think. From simply brainstorming with God and people, we have had some of the biggest and best breakthroughs in our ministry!
Next week we’ll continue our series, “Wall Street or Gold Street…which one are you trusting in?”