Happy new year, beautiful people! I am grateful to have made it into 2023, especially as this is my first article of the year. Plus, I come in with incredible lessons for navigating the highs and lows of this new year. One of the greatest lessons I bring with me is the fact that uncertainties are ascertained. It’s as if you have to approach life knowing that everything is unpredictable and can change up on you at any given time. With this realization, I have chosen a path where I must constantly seek certainty from Someone that is steady and reliable. So, I begin this article with these verses in the Bible that says God can be trusted to keep his promise.
Psalm 145:13 – “For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The LORD always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.” (NLT)
Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (NLT)
Knowing that God can be trusted has sort of given me confidence that in a life so uncertain, I can find stability and sustainability in God. This realization made more sense when I read the story of Jacob in Genesis 28, one of the most fascinating people in the Bible, given that he is painted as manipulative and yet a man of godly encounters.
In this particular story, he wants to leave his workplace to go fend for himself and his family. However, Laban, his employer, father-in-law, and uncle, opts to keep him much longer. He understood and admitted that Jacob had been the reason for his blessings. Therefore, they come to this agreement that if Laban would give him some of his cattle, specifically the spotted ones, Jacob would stay and continue working for him.
The catch, however, is that Jacob had already received a strategy from God in his dream. One night as Jacob was laying down, he looked up and saw an angel picking out spotted animals. So, Jacob replicated this strategy exactly as he’d seen. Had Jacob not consulted God, he would have left Laban’s house with nothing to his name. It was not new for Jacob to walk away, as he had already done that before in life.
Instead, this time Jacob stays because he receives a strategy that would turn his life around. At the time, Jacob had already worked for Laban for 20 years, and yet had nothing to show for it. It was a painful investment with little to no return. But when God intervened with a Heavenly strategy, Jacob multiplied significantly more than Laban. Eventually, this become an issue of contention that caused Jacob to walk away and go back to his home country. However, by this time, Jacob was an extremely wealthy man he divided his wealth into two camps.
If we are honest, it gets so overwhelming trying to figure out the next right step to make in life. The older you get, the more pressure there seems to be about making wise decisions that will steer you in the right direction. But what if you did not have to do it alone? What if you don’t need to get stuck in confusion and second-guessing yourself? The truth is, you cannot succeed in life following your heart, since the heart is deceitful. Earthy wisdom also passes away – it may propel you forward a little, but there will always be people ahead of you.
But you can follow God and get it right to the letter. The best part about getting a strategy from God is that He ends up being the enabler and sustainer of the entire project. He begins the good work and completes it. Imagine a life where you need not worry about idea, strategy, or execution! Your only concern would be to participate in obedience. If that is what it’s going to take to operate in precision in 2023, sign me up. I hope you sign up too.
Scripture Reading: Genesis 28; Psalm 145:13; Hebrews 10:23
