Getting God’s Consent For Your Project

JEHOVAH does not look at the things man looks at. David’s father didn’t think himself fit to be Israel’s next king, which was why when Samuel came looking for a successor to King Saul, he presented his eldest son, Eliab, who was a General in the Israeli army.

Prophet Samuel was impressed. Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely God’s anointed stands here.” But Jehovah told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.” God does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks on the outward appearance but Allah looks at the heart.

When it comes to your life’s calling, only God’s opinion counts. In order to fulfill his destiny, David had to overcome his family’s opinion of him. Any time you see people pursuing a mid-career change, you can be certain that they had been living someone else’s dream and had lost their way. Nobel prize-winning essayist, Joseph Brodsky, observed: “One’s task consists, first of all, in mastering a life that is one’s own, not imposed from without, no matter how noble its appearance may be.

For each of us is issued but one life, and we know how it all ends. It would be regrettable to squander this one chance on someone else’s experience.” It isn’t too late to invite God to your project. Just do what God wants you to do by your intuition and capacity. Ask God for a dream of your own and He will give it to you.

Sadly, try as you may, you will never fulfill a dream that isn’t your own. You locate your dream by studying your personal history. You will live the life for which Jehovah created you, only after you figure out your life’s project. When a dream is right for you and you are right for a dream, you are single-mindedly magnetized to it.

Paul told Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” The young person has no clear picture of himself. He sees himself only in the mirror of his parents. A child who is told repeatedly that he is a bad boy, or is lazy, or no good, or stupid or clumsy, will tend to act out this picture. You can only get Allah’s consent if you follow His will.

The Philistines made a raid on the Valley of Rephaim. Then David inquired from God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?” God said to him, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.” At Baal Perazim, David commented, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water. Thereafter, they called the place Baal Perazim, meaning breaking-through.”

To get a breakthrough in your life, you must do like David: First, he reminded himself that God had made him King. You must know what you stand for. Second, David enquired from God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines?” God does not respond to your need, He responds to your obedience. When you have obeyed Jehovah, you will win. Third, David gave God credit for his victory: “God has broken through my enemies.” Chronicles 14:11.

Sometimes, God will do it for you. At other times, He will do it through you. That is why you must hear from God before you settle on a particular project. You cannot obey God and have Him abandon you. When you obey God, He will grant you a breakthrough.

Our champion this week is Baron Paul Julius Reuter, the German-born founder of one of the first news agencies, which still bears his name. Of Jewish parentage, he became a Christian in 1844 and adopted the name Reuter.

Reuter was born in Kassel, Germany in 1816. He became a clerk in his uncle’s bank in Gottingen, Germany, where he made the acquaintance of the eminent Mathematician, Friedrich Gauss. At that time Gauss was experimenting with electric telegraph that was to become important in news dissemination.

In 1843, he joined a publishing concern in Berlin, which published political pamphlets. After hostilities arising from his pamphlets, he moved to Paris, France in 1848. Reuter then started sending news he translated from French to Germany. In 1950, he set up a news agency between Brussels and Germany. Moving to London in 1851, he set up a telegraph office near the London Stock Exchange. With daily newspapers flourishing, Reuter persuaded publishers to subscribe to his news agency. His first spectacular success came when he transmitted to London the text of a speech by Napoleon III starting the Austro-French war in Italy.

The spread of undersea cables helped Reuter extend his services. Reuter was created a baron by Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1871. He was given the privileges of this rank in England. He retired as managing director of Reuters in 1878 and died in Nice, France in February 1899. His Reuters news agency is still thriving at 164 years.