“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? (Jer.12:5)
One of the major matters arising in marriage is that of the management of success. We are all struggling to succeed in our business and every area of life. Many, whose homes were a place of peace and fellowship with God during the time they were struggling became something else when success came. Many even went into things that scatter their homes and even terminate their lives in the process. When success comes, it often leads to problems at home if you don’t learn how to manage success in your finances:
You may start seeing imaginary faults in your spouse. You may never know a man that is God-fearing and faithful to his marital vows until success comes. You also can’t say a woman is submissive to her husband until God prospers her in her business or she gets a lifting.
You may become too busy to pay attention to your children. For instance, it may become expedient for them to be kept in the hostel even during the holidays. You would have forgotten that if those children are not properly trained, they may be the one that will scatter all that you have gathered.
You may start living your life as if the economy can never have problems or that your company can never fold up.
You may start relating with friends that will lead you to ruin. Success can make you to start moving with strange friends who may turn out later to be agents of the devil, positioned in your life to ensure that are ruined eventually.
You may find it difficult to listen to your spouse any longer. When success comes, you may find it difficult to listen to the counsel of your spouse. You would have forgotten that he or she is the only one who would under normal circumstances be there with you when all else have gone.
You may start accumulating liabilities which will ultimately lead to your downfall. You may decide to build a house that will require fortunes to maintain and buy luxury cars that will become a drain on your finances.
Your pastor or spiritual mentors may become less and less important to you, making you to grow independent of your God. When success comes, if care is not taken, you may start questioning the relevance of your your pastor or mentors to your life. You may start having the feeling that they were only relevant when you needed them to pray or counsel you towards your breakthrough. You would have forgotten that managing success is often more challenging than when managing your life when you were struggling.
Managing your life when success comes requires more wisdom and perspective than managing your life when you are still struggling to make ends meet. This is because success gives you more options to explore. You must make up your mind that when God blesses you with more abundant financial resources, you will allow the voice of reason to guide you so that you don’t throw away things that matter in your life.
Dr. Mike Oluniyi.
