“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds” (Proverbs 27:23 KJV).
God expects us to us live by faith, but He also expects us to have wisdom and common sense. Many men fail to succeed in life because they ignore the results of what is happening in their lives. For example, if I have a five-year plan and two or three years into it I haven’t moved a step closer to accomplishing it, then I can’t ignore the results. I need to be smart enough to realize something’s wrong and go talk to God about it. “God this isn’t working. What’s going on? Is this the right plan? Are these the right steps? Am I not in faith? What am I missing here?”
If I ask, God will talk to me. But many people won’t go to God and ask; they’ll just work harder to try and make things happen. But I can’t keep trying to push forward by working harder, thinking I’m in faith, when there’s a reason I’m not getting results. It takes both faith and works to get results, so if I’m doing a whole lot of work and not getting any results, then I’m either doing the wrong things or else I’m not in faith. I need some wisdom from God, and He said if I’d ask, He’d give it to me (James 1:5).
Take Away:
If you want to succeed, you’ve got to start looking at the results in your life. A good way to keep track of progress and see if things are working or not working is to have a plan, a budget, and a calendar. If you’re going over budget by constantly throwing money at something that’s not producing results, then something needs to change. Or, if you have a set timeline but roadblocks keep popping up, and the timeline keeps getting adjusted, maybe you need to step back and see what issues need to be addressed or what adjustments need to be made. Paying attention to these kinds of results will help you stay on track and see any changes that need to be made so your plans will be successful.
