If abundance falls upon you, can you bear it?

Sometimes people complain, “Why can this person win the lotto? Why can that person be the president/CEO? Why does that person have this abundance and I don't?”

Have you thought about whether you can really bear it when such abundance really falls upon you? Take the self-made millionaire vs the lotto-won millionaire; who is more likely to be capable of generating further growth in assets? We hear stories about lotto millionaires: not many seem to have happy endings. Take King Saul vs King David: Saul came to the throne without prior hardships, whereas David went through tremendous hardships before he reached his throne. One was focused on his own ego, deteriorated and gone loony, while the other was capable of repenting and learning through his mistakes. This cycle of humbleness and repentance built a much more solid foundation for capable leadership. If leadership is suddenly thrust upon you when you are still unprepared to take on leadership, how long can you last?

For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. (Psalms 66:10-12)

When we go through testing, refine like silver, we need to acknowledge the hand of God & the timing of God is in the midst of our trials. Joel Osteen shared in the Hillsong Conference 2013, “The winds that were meant to harm you; let God take control and take you to something more rewarding”. And on the contrary, sometimes what appears like an easy short cut may take you around in a bigger circle.

Hardship is the path to endurance and resilience if we maintain the right mentality in the process. Have you seen the toy “drumming monkey”?
http://youtu.be/lqDtAmX9ByM
http://youtu.be/VPxQuLVBwB0
We have many switches on us, and when other people accidentally strike upon the switches, we go off agitated and berserk like the “drumming monkey”. Hardship trains us so the numbers of switches decrease, and we become hard and shiny like diamonds.

Humbleness is also essential in the process. We cannot learn from people if we look down upon them. If we take a look around with humble eyes, we will then realize that God has in fact placed many good teachers around us. Diversity can create painful friction, but it also generates growth if we are willing to learn. We also need the courage to admit our own limitations and acknowledge that only God can help us through such mess.

Our God is a God of abundance. Are we ready to take on such abundance in our lives?

一個合神心意的領袖養成和培育是不容易的事。從我們現在的光景走到神為我們所預備的異象成就，中間這個塑造過程才是最難的。

神啊，你曾試驗我們，熬煉我們如熬煉銀子一樣。你使我們進入網羅，把重擔放在我們的身上。你使人坐車軋我們的頭，我們經過水火，你卻使我們到豐富之地。(詩篇66:10-12)

有些路看似捷徑，反而帶你繞過更大一圈。