Heightening your instincts to make better decisions.

One song I really like is ‘The Gambler’ by Kenny Rogers:

‘You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run…’

I’m not sure if I like the song because of the lyrics or the tune. But what I love about the song is its notion of knowing when to act and when not to, like a good cardplayer does. That’s one of the greatest secrets of success in life: timing.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying ‘Timing is everything’, and I’m sure, just like me, you’ve had your share of good and bad timing. How grand would life be if we all just knew and understood the right time for everything in life? You would know when to push and when to hold.

Think about all the wasted energy you have invested in something that didn’t work because it wasn’t the right time for it. We could all do with a good sense of timing, couldn’t we? We have to go through life making decisions based on our best guesses according to the facts at hand and our limited foresight of tomorrow.

How can we improve our chances of being ‘there’ at just the right time? One of my favourite Bible verses is Ecclesiastes 9:11: ‘The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.’

It’s all about time and chance — a good gamble, some may say. One way to improve your timing is to heighten your senses and sharpen your intuitions. Now, you know as well as I do that the only way to keep a knife sharp is to use and reuse it. The same goes for intuition: it gets better over time.

Think about it: at some point in life you’ve wanted to do something that you ‘felt’ you should do. You couldn’t really tell why you felt that way — you simply did. If you listened to your inner voice and obeyed it, then you enhanced your intuition. But every time you ignored it, you let it become duller. And if you continue to ignore it, it eventually fades away. Some say that it’s your sixth sense, others say it’s the still voice inside your head. Whatever school of thought you belong to, we can all agree that it’s a good idea to pay attention when you have an ‘inclination’ in your mind.

Like a good card game, you get better by playing. By the same token, you get ‘luckier’ by heightening your instincts. Don’t get dull and sloppy by basing your decisions on what everyone else is saying. What’s your spirit saying to you? ‘But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.’ Job 32:8. Yes, you read that right — that voice, instinct, or intuition is the spirit of God guiding you. Honestly, you can’t ask for a better guide than the creator of life Himself.

So quit gambling with your choices in life. Stop showing up one minute later. Halt the speedy drive down life’s highway and listen to the voice of God in you. ‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”’ Isaiah 30:21.

Where is He guiding you? Are you taking the leap, or still second-guessing yourself? Are you basing your decisions on social media or society news pages? Think again. All of life is time and chance; listen to the Master’s voice guiding you and make great decisions at just the right time.

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