Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday January 11, 2006

Henry Drummond's third rule for discovering and acting on the will of God is a simple as the first two:

"Talk to wise people, but don’t regard their decision as final."

History personal and studied, teaches me that no one knows it all and in serious undertakings it is imperative to get the input of others, especially those who have been through it.

Proverbs 19:20 "Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end."

One of the problems with people in my calling is that we tend to hear what we want to hear, we talk to and listen to only those who have succeeded in undertakings similar to the one we are launching. In my case and a few others I could name this has proved a devastating mistake.

The person who has succeeded will give first hand account of the nuts and bolts of the how to, and will give glowing report of the benefit. This is very good as far as it goes. Had I talked to a few people who had undertaken a similar project using the same methods as I and failed, I would have not used the methods!! Had my project went to completion I would have no idea of the pitfalls associated with failure. While not whining, I do recommend talking to professionals who are familiar with both sides of 'launching' out.

It is important to refuse to give ownership of your life totally over to your advisors. Advisors can bring truth and ideas to the table, but in the final analysis it is you who must organize the facts at hand, make a decision and move toward the stated goal. Contrary to what most Name and Claim It prophets would have you to believe, there really are no guarantees.

Sometimes, God is His wisdom has planned a huge failure for you!! I know this is hard to grasp, but it is true. Jesus let Peter walk far enough on the water to stop the mouths of the others. He then let Peter sink far enough to hush Peter!! I have read that failure has a humbling effect. I think this is true!

At the bottom of my misery when all of my plans went South, a wise, older preacher, came to see me. This in itself was a comfort. He knew nothing of the huge dollars, the large land tracts, but he knew and shared a truth with me that has kept me going for many years now. He told me when I whined of the failure and humiliation associated with it;

"Larry, Jesus is more interested in you than in any great project!!"

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2006 Use with credit.

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