2020-05-03
Proverbs 13:16 NKJV
By taking the time to acquire knowledge, you’ll be ready for the opportunities life brings. If you are not prepared, they’ll pass you by and go to others. God said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Observe: (1) Strategic thinking prepares you for the future. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. “Don’t brag about your plans for tomorrow – wait and see what happens” (Proverbs 27:1 TLB). The only thing that’s worse than the uncertainty of tomorrow is having no plan and strategy for your life. (2) Strategic thinking reduces the margin of error. Any time you shoot from the hip, you increase your margin of error. It’s like a golfer stepping up to a ball and hitting it before lining up the shot. Misaligning a shot by a few degrees can send your ball a hundred yards off target. Strategic thinking lines up your actions with your objectives, just as lining up a shot in golf helps you to put the ball closer to the pin. The better you are aligned with your target, the better the odds that you will be going in the right direction. (3) Strategic thinking gives you influence with others. One executive quipped, “Our company has a short-range plan and a long-range plan. Our short-range plan is to stay afloat long enough to make it to our long-range plan.” That’s hardly a strategy, yet it’s the position some of us find ourselves in. The person with the plan is the one with the power. Whatever activity you’re involved in, strategic thinking is essential to success. Talk to God about it.
Soul food: Matt 5:9; Rom 12:17-21; Jam 3:17-18; Prov 16:7
Ecclesiastes 8:1 MSG
When we ask God to give us wisdom, what sort of changes can happen in our lives? Firstly, we become prepared for the future. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. The Bible says: ‘Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring’ (Proverbs 27:1 NIV). But when we have wisdom, we’re able to face the future without fear, because we know that God’s with us and will help us. Wisdom also gives us a better understanding of the possible consequences of our actions. Secondly, wisdom helps us to move in the right direction. God’s wisdom helps us to make decisions, and keeps us walking on the right path. If we lack wisdom, we can find ourselves walking down the wrong paths and stalling when we reach a crossroads. God says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Jeremiah 6:16 NIV). If we ask God for wisdom, He’ll show us which way to go. Thirdly, God’s wisdom helps us to deal with difficult situations and challenging people. Having wisdom changes how we handle things. In The Message, Ecclesiastes 8:1 says: ‘Wisdom puts light in the eyes, and gives gentleness to words and manners.’ Wisdom changes our responses to others. We become more gentle, which helps us to deal well with frustrations. In Proverbs 29, we’re told: ‘Foolish people lose their tempers, but wise people control theirs’ (v.11 NCV). Having wisdom helps us to understand people and their situations. We can see the other side of the story, and we can react in a calm, controlled way.
Matt 5:9; Rom 12:17-21; Jam 3:17-18; Prov 16:7
Spreuke 13:16 NLV
Deur die tyd te neem om kennis te versamel, sal jy gereed wees vir die geleenthede wat die lewe meebring. As jy nie voorbereid is nie, sal hulle jou verbygaan en na ander mense gaan. God het gesê: ‘My volk gaan te gronde weens gebrek aan kennis…’ (Hosea 4:6 AFR53). Let op: 1) Strategiese denke berei jou vir die toekoms voor. Niemand van ons weet wat môre gaan meebring nie. ‘Moenie te veel praat oor wat môre kan gebeur nie. Jy weet glad nie wat môre gaan oplewer nie’ (Spreuke 27:1 NLV). Die enigste ding wat erger as die onsekerheid van die toekoms is, is wanneer jy geen plan en strategie vir jou lewe het nie. 2) Strategiese denke verminder die kans om foute te maak. Wanneer jy dit nie doen nie, is jy soos ‘n gholfspeler wat die bal slaan, sonder om eers die hou te mik. As jou hou met ‘n paar grade foutief is, kan dit jou bal honderde meters van die teiken af stuur. Strategiese denke bring jou aksies in lyn met jou doelwitte. Hoe meer in lyn jy met jou teiken is, hoe beter is die kanse dat jy in die regte rigting sal gaan. 3) Strategiese denke gee jou invloed by ander mense. Een direkteur het geskerts: ‘Ons maatskappy het ‘n korttermyplan en ‘n langtermynplan. Ons korttermyn plan is om lank genoeg staande te bly sodat ons by ons langtermynplan kan uitkom.’ Dis nie ‘n baie goeie strategie nie en tog is dit dikwels die posisie waarin ons onsself bevind. Die persoon met die plan is die persoon met die mag. Dit maak nie saak by watter aktiwiteit jy betrokke is nie, strategiese denke is noodsaaklik vir sukses. Praat met God daaroor.
Sielskos: Matt 5:9; Rom 12:17-21; Jak 3:17-18; Spr 16:7
2020-05-02
Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT
Strategic thinking helps you to plan, to become more efficient, to maximize your strengths, and to find the most direct path toward achieving your God-given assignment in life. The benefits of strategic thinking are numerous. Here are a few of them: (1) Strategic thinking simplifies the difficult. It takes complex issues and long-term objectives that can be very difficult to address, and breaks them down into manageable sizes. Anything becomes simpler when you have a plan! The Bible says, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5 NIV). (2) Strategic thinking helps you to ask the right questions. Take a look at the following questions developed by Bobb Biehl, author of Masterplanning. “Direction: What should we do next? Why? Organization: Who is responsible for what? Who is responsible for whom? Do we have the right people in the right places? Cash: What is our projected income, expense, net? Can we afford it? How can we afford it? Tracking: Are we on target? Overall evaluation: Are we achieving the quality we expect and demand of ourselves? Refinement: How can we be more effective and more efficient?” These may not be the only questions you need to ask in order to begin formulating a strategic plan, but they are a good first step. Until you take the first step, you’ll remain stuck. Until you get over your need to do it perfectly, you won’t do it at all. You ask, “When should I start?” Today!
Soul food: Num 4:34-6:27; Mark 6:1-13; Ps 37:1-7; Prov 11:1-2
Psalm 16:7 NCV
When we have a problem we can’t solve, where do we automatically go to for help? Do we speak to friends and family? Do we ask for advice on social media? Do we search the internet looking for answers? Or do we go straight to God? God’s wisdom is far above the wisdom of anyone, or anything, else. The Bible says: ‘The wisdom that comes from God is first of all pure, then peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others. It is always fair and honest’ (James 3:17 NCV). And the great thing is, we have access to this wisdom all the time. We can always approach God and ask for His help. God said: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know’ (Jeremiah 33:3 NIV). We can call to Him anytime, and He’ll reveal things to us. He’s waiting to guide us, advise us, and give us the wisdom we need to make decisions and solve the issues in our lives. James wrote: ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you’ (James 1:5 NIV). Sometimes God will help us by speaking directly into our situation and showing us what we need to do. Other times, He gives us the wisdom we need to figure out what we should do ourselves. The psalmist said, ‘I praise the LORD because he advises me. Even at night, I feel his leading.’ We can hand all our problems and worries over to Him, and ask for His wisdom and peace in exchange.
Num 4:34-6:27; Mark 6:1-13; Ps 37:1-7; Prov 11:1-2
