Fidelis in Parvo

Fidelis in parvo...

I am actually quite surprised that I have not written on this topic because, what I am about to share forms the core of my approach to life... I cannot say when I learnt it...but it is something that informs how I do things now...

I first read the phrase "fidelis in parvo.." about 10 years ago...it was the title of a devotion by Dr. David Jeremiah..and it has stuck since then. What does it mean you ask...well it's latin for "faithfulness in small things"...I am sure most have either heard or read it somewhere. In essence it refers to Jesus' teaching that he who proves faithful in the small tasks or responsibilities, more will be given.

I have applied this rule or principle to several areas of my life...first it informs how I handle the responsibilities that I am given regardless of how small they may be...and the purpose is not just so that I get promoted but to actually get equipped for whatever promotion may come... a simple example can be a look at how people progress with their education. You start with phonetics, this grows to sentence formulation, then composition and comprehension...and by the time you graduate from college, you have written your own piece of research...but you will continue to use this knowledge and skill even in your work as you write reports, letters etc. The same can be said of mathematics and all the other things we learn in primary school, which we build on in secondary school and again in university...

Yeah...you never thought of that now did you? That your primary school teacher was preparing you or equipping you so that today you are able to read this blog...and for me..today I am able to write this and I can point to that foundation that was set even in nursery school...or kindergarten...(not that my English teachers would be proud of my grammar and sentence construction on this blog....haha..but in the first blog I put a disclaimer...so I'm safe)

A lot of life is like that, it is cumulative...we build on past experiences...and the principle of being faithful in small things tells us that we are to do our best even in what seems to be insignificant to us, you never know when the capacity you are building will be useful... I can give my own example.. I was made a prefect in primary school...but I did not take this seriously... I absconded from my duties, preferring instead to go play football with my friends... in fact I was the biggest culprit when it came to being late to school... although I should point out that I never missed my library duties...those ones I enjoyed...maybe because there was no alternative to go play football during that time..haha..all the same, I enjoyed reading, so library duty was always good fun...

Later on in life... I was given the responsibility of leading different groups..and although I have had some success, I believe there is something that I should have learned in primary school which I did not..it was an opportunity that I missed...but by God's grace there are things that I am learning now... I have learnt the importance of being on time for appointments, meetings, work etc... the importance of carrying out your responsibilities even when they are not fun... I had the opportunity to learn this all those years ago...but I did not take it...and here's the funny thing... in high school... all my friends were prefects except me..

But...today, my thoughts on that phrase were more to do with doing the best with what you have in your hand. My housemate sent me a link to a TED talk today on "The leaders who ruined Africa and the generation that will fix it". I was very challenged by the talk, especially considering that the speaker, Fred Swaniker, is still in his 30s....in addition, he mentioned a girl who dropped out of school at 13, started a business selling rabbits which became successful that she was able to use the money to pay her way through school and by the age of 18 had built a school which benefited over 400 children..

When you hear such stories, you think.. what am I doing with my life? or I can't wait till I make so much money that I can impact my community and generation. For those who are passionate about impacting their communities, generation, or nation... there is a tendency to put this passion on hold until such a time as you feel you now have all that you need.

But, you don't have to...start where you are. Release that passion in one form or another...look at ways of how you can start small. Do you want to build schools or hospitals? Look around you, how can you help make the existing ones better...for those of us from Africa...go to a village, see if you can help out there, in whatever small way...and it does not always take money, you can volunteer your services and say teach at a school near you...that way you are living out your passion, and I am sure as you do so, God will reward you with the resources that you need to build those schools.

This past election period (I am from Malawi)... I discovered how far K50,000 (about $125) can go in a village setting... that money can help build a bridge and connect villages... K100,000 ($250) can get iron sheets that are enough to cover a small health center. From this I learnt something...every small amount matters if you direct it to the area of your passion...

In this generation where people want to do the "big" thing...maybe it is time to start looking at what small contribution can I make...be faithful in it, and see how God will enlarge you..

As they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step...

P.S. if you want to have a look at the TED Talk, you can find it on this link Fred Swaniker Oct 21

A Good Man

Where to start...? The beginning I guess...what prompted this post? Well today is my birthday and I decided to write something that is both a message to you the reader and to myself..

"A good man leaves and inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous." Proverbs 13:22...

The above verse has been on my mind for a good part of this year, and I often find myself thinking about it. A couple of months ago, this verse popped into my head late at night as I was thinking about my heritage and what legacy I would leave to my children. It hit me that God thinks multi-generational, for example, in the Old Testament He refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...that is three generations. The promise He gave to David was to cover not just him but also those of his line as there would always be a king in Israel from David's line.

Does God expect the same from us? Does He want us to think of the generations that will come after us? I am sure not many of us have considered the thought, at most people will think about what they will leave for their children but never go beyond that. But the verse in Proverbs that I have quoted above implies that God expects us to think further than just our children, we are to do more, we are to do something that will endure even to our children's children and perhaps beyond.

Question is, what sort of inheritance will you leave? Please note that this is not just about money, the Amplified translation of that verse says "A good man leaves an inheritance (of moral stability and goodness) to his children's children..." I think moral stability and goodness are actually more enduring than whatever amount of money you can leave behind... and here I will give an example of my Gogo Dennis Liwewe (my great uncle)..who passed away 6 months ago...

His death caused me to consider a few things... He was not extravagantly wealthy in terms of material possessions, but he was very wealthy in terms of family, friends, influence and the amount of respect he got from society. He placed a lot of importance on family and how we live with those around us...much in the same way as my own grandfather did... I did not get to know him well...but the few hours I spent in his presence revealed to me what a great man he was... I had heard of him, he commanded a lot of respect within the family and he had a lot of authority... All the people who spoke of him, spoke with admiration and respect...and as a family we drew a lot of pride just by being associated with him.

Even in his death, he was still giving us lessons...the things that happened following his death actually confirmed much of what he had taught...and to me, it was a great lesson on how living out your passion and serving others will bring honour. What especially struck me was a letter that one of my cousins wrote for a newspaper column. In it, she mentioned the lessons she had learned from him and her pledge to live by the instruction he gave...it was so powerful because in general terms she said what most of the extended family would have said in tribute to him. He valued family, education, and service...and last month I heard the very same things being said of him by those who he mentored as young men.

He served his adoptive country, Zambia, so well that they gave him a state funeral...how many people can claim the same...he was not a politician mind you, he was not the richest man in Zambia... he was just a man passionate about football and serving his country...

So he left a good inheritance, not just for his children, but also for his children's children...and I am sure that those of us who were impacted by his life, will continue to teach others the lessons he gave us...that is the legacy of a great man... a man who is honoured both by his family and by his nation...

Now we don't all have to aim for a state funeral in our honour...rather we are to look for ways in which we can serve our family and the community around us...we all have passions, how do we live them out in a way that will benefit society? What are the things we want our children and grandchildren to remember us for? What sort of legacy are we going to leave...what sort of inheritance will you leave? Think about it and start taking steps toward that goal today...

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.....

Professor Ex

Some say experience is the best teacher and I tend to disagree for several reasons...firstly sometimes experience can be a very harsh teacher with consequences that are difficult to recover from...but also because, as a Christian, I believe the best teacher is the Holy Spirit who dwells in me...in fact Paul says we are filled with all knowledge (Romans 15:14), and John says the anointing teaches us all things (1 John 2:20,27)...and Jesus said the Holy Spirit would come to teach us all things (John 14:26)...

With that said, there are indeed that we learn from experience, hence the title of this post, "Professor Ex"...a bit silly, I know...but one has to try to be creative right...

We need to be careful what we learn from experience and how we apply those lessons to our daily lives...this is particularly true for the negative or bad experiences we will have in life... As you read this post, I am sure you can think of several bad experiences you have had, and you have drawn some sort of lesson from it that you have probably generalised in your application...now this is not necessarily bad, there are just a few things I would like to draw to your attention and ask you to consider..

I recently had an experience where I was defrauded as a result of doing what I felt, at the time, was a good service to another human... I thought I was helping, and for those who know me, I can be very quick to help those I see to be in need...well this time it did not work out so well...

After the event, I began to think and ask myself whether I was too generous or naive in how I dealt with people...was I too trusting and too quick to offer help without considering how sincere the people I was interacting with are..? Lots of questions...at the end of which I was beginning to conclude that perhaps I should stop helping strangers...or if I am to help I should find ways of protecting myself from any damages or negative impacts of the help I offered...as some of you may know...we all have an innate instinct for self preservation... and this is what was driving this thought process..

As I continued to think over it...a counter argument sprang up... "will you stop doing good just because of this one experience, will you ignore some in need of genuine help just because someone abused your desire to help?"...and... what does the Bible say about doing good and helping those in need?

All this made me realise just how far we go to make generalisations that inform our outlook on life based on one experience...especially the negative ones...and what impact this has on how we relate with others and how we live out our lives...

I believe we are to learn from every experience, rather from the majority of our experiences...and in that way experience can be a good teacher...but we ought to be careful how we determine the final lesson and to do this we should consider what it is motivating that conclusion we are arriving at.

Satan will use our negative experiences to build fear in us such that we will make generalisations that if we implement could result in us missing out on God's plans and purposes for us. In the example I have given, the fear of being defrauded again could result in me not being a blessing to someone and bring glory to God. At the same time, I was going to use this one experience negate all the other times when I have helped someone who went on to praise and glorify God, being convinced of His goodness and care, and in some cases God has used this person to help me later in life...

It is important for us to carefully think about the consequences of whatever lesson we are drawing out our life experiences. We need to consider what is motivating the conclusions we arrive it. Are we being motivated by fear or is by faith? Are we looking to God's word and His promises...are we continuing in the hope He has called us to? The answers to these questions should help you and me to draw the right lessons from our experiences...

So learn from your experiences, but be careful what you are learning...