A stock broker had a beautiful picture above his credenza behind his desk. It depicted the various stock markets since their inception with a different color line for each index. The lines stopped in the year 1988. I said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a chart that showed where those markets would go in the future?”
“It sure would,” said the broker. “It would make my job easier and my clients richer.”
In light of an uncertain future, here are four common sense principles to making wise decisions.
- Don’t put all your funds in one place; diversify your investments.
The colloquialism says it best: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” That is not only ageless wisdom but biblical teaching. The wise investors spread out their investments.
2. Don’t wait for perfect conditions; be diligent in your labor.
Too many people sit around waiting for “all their ducks in a row” or for “the stars to align” before they move ahead with a project or an idea. For the most part the conditions will never be idyllic. Instead, we need to forge ahead, keep on keeping on, stay at the task. After all,
God controls these conditions, and we cannot tell whether good or bad conditions will materialize.
3. Don’t try to understand God’s ways; be dependent on Him.
Trying to understand God’s ways is like trying to comprehend, how babies are formed in a mother’s womb. It’s a miracle that’s beyond our scope of expertise and intelligence. Yet we continue to have children. We cannot understand God’s ways and how He fulfills His plan. Instead, we trust Him, depending on His sovereignty and grace.
What we cannot see, we rely on God to go before us and show us the way. We will never understand the mystery in all God does. We will never understand His activity. Our part is not to try to figure it out. Our part is to trust.
4. Don’t attempt to predict the future; be decisive in your actions.
Go to work, stay at it from daylight to evening. We never know how our work will turn out. We don’t know if our profit will come from one activity or another or both. Since the future is in God’s hands, the wise person proceeds with his work diligently, hoping his efforts will yield fruit, as they usually do. Despite not knowing what is going to happen in the future, one cannot remain inactive. Paralysis of analysis has prevented many people from taking the necessary risks.
Solomon wrote: “A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise” (Prov. 12:15). When these principles are put into practice we can make wise decisions in spite of an uncertain future.
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