There is a story that goes like this:
" A very spiritual man, who was constantly in contact with God, once complained about his life through this prayer:
' O God, I am a very spiritual person. I pray three times a day: ‘morning, noon and evening. I am seriously engaged throughout the spiritual activities of my community. I attend church 4 times a week, and always apply the spiritual principles of the Bible. But why is my physical life so miserable? I struggle to pay my bills. My kids can't go to college. My house stinks. I can't even take care of myself! Why is this...God? Can't you help me?'
And God replied:
'Every time you eat, you use your tongue. Whenever you go somewhere, you use your feet. When you want to smell something, you use your nose. Your nose, your feet, your hands are all body parts that I have created. Unfortunately, there is a part of your body that you hate using: 'Your brain. Use it, son!'
The moral behind the story, explains why so many exceedingly spiritual people struggle in their outer (physical) life:' they have laid aside their reasoning or common sense.'
They know everything about peace, joy, prayer, God and all the pure values that could exist and it is very good. I am not against that. I am a very spiritual person as well. But while we enrich our self with spiritual food, we should not exclude the principles determining our 'outer' life conditions. And those principles can only be channeled through our brain which resonates common sense.
Let me use some simple examples:
-If you decide to stand in front of a speeding car running towards you...well, you will get knocked, regardless of your spirituality. It does not matter whether you are a born again Christian or not, something bad will happen to you.
-If you decide to jump from the top of a building 50 feet high, you will eventually break yourself or die. Regardless of your spiritual communion with God.
When I was younger, I was told by older and more experienced people that making use of ' common sense' was totally sinful and against the principles of Faith. Today, I really understand that it was a blatant lie.
'Common sense' is the main characteristic of wisdom. There are several Bible verses encouraging us to embrace wisdom for a better living.
When God inspires a Vision or a specific purpose into your heart, you then have a mandate to bring that purpose or vision to life. The steps or actions you will take , must be channeled through wisdom or common sense. That's why God gave you a brain which is one of the main catalysts of wisdom. Don't feel guilty to use it.
If God inspires you into becoming a great lawyer, would you just call yourself ' a lawyer by faith?' Would you simply go to court and start defending people in criminal cases with no formal qualifications? That would be very stupid. And chances are that if you take that route, you will never see the ' lawyer' dream that God had for you. But if you receive the vision by Faith and use common sense to realize it, you will soon understand that you first need to go to Law School, learn the principles of justice, exercise public speaking...until you become certified as a lawyer.
That's what I call Faith through wise actions that guarantee success. Stop using the ' faith slander language' that constantly confesses stupid things like:' I will marry by faith (with no planning), I am a medical doctor by faith (with no qualification), I have a soul mate by faith ( while you can't even ask a girl on a date)....
I have met friends who adopted the extreme faith while excluding 'common sense' from their lives. I can really tell you as witness of their lives, that they have suffered the consequences. I also did similar mistakes in my past.
Today I am writing this post to warn you: 'Don't make the mistake of excluding common sense on the path of purpose'.
Maurice Kande.