Efforts and Results

Monday 9/15/2014 4:25 AM

The opening verses of Psalm 1 were the first things I read this morning for my devotions. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.” I immediately thought of my students and how I want them to prosper, to succeed in their plans. There are times when I feel as if I almost have a greater desire to see them succeed than what they do. I know how much hard work is needed for success and it seems as if many of my students are more haphazard in their approach to life, unwilling to put in the time and effort that is needed.

I find the words of James Allen in his book As a Man Thinketh to be very sobering. “And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the vision (not the idle wish) of your heart be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration … In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. ‘Gifts,’ powers, material, intellectual and spiritual possession are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized. The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart – this you will build your life by, this you will become.”

I agree with much of what Allen says. I realize that there are forces inherent in society that sometimes inhibit a person’s success but, more often than not, my own success or lack of achievement is more inhibited by my lack of vision or my own lack of effort. I want maximum results with minimum effort, like many others in our society today. If I constantly view myself as a victim of circumstances I will never rise above them, I will become the victim that I envision. If I view myself as a gifted child of God, made in his image for a purpose in this world, and work as hard as he gives me the ability to work, I will have a much more likely chance to succeed.