A FAVORITE PROVERB
Proverb 14:4 NKJV
4 Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.
Being a pastor for close to 28 years has caused me to appreciate God’s wisdom in the Proverbs more every year. And this verse four is one of my favorites. It’s a great reminder that in any area where you are making progress, everything will not always be neat and tidy.
Almost any area I can think of that is increasing has an increase in problems and challenges. If you want more friends and take the risk of reaching out to others, you run the risk of encountering relational challenges. If you stay at home and never engage with others, you may have less people problems, but you are isolated.
If you increase your responsibilities at work, hopefully, it will come with an increase in pay. But you can rest assured it will come with more problems: more responsibility, more challenges. You could refuse to advance, but staying in the same place is certainly not more fulfilling, and you are limiting your income potential.
For married couples wanting to have a family, there are absolute blessings associated with children, and there are absolute challenges and messes, literally.
In the day this proverb was penned, having oxen was like having a tractor today. In an agricultural environment, the more you planted, the more you ate and prospered. If you were operating without oxen, you were very limited in terms of how much you could plow and farm. Often, you could only farm enough to handle your personal needs. But if you had oxen, you could increase your capacity to plant and reap and, therefore, increase your earnings. But oxen come with messes. Feeding, caring for, and cleaning up after oxen is a job, but the return is worth the trouble.
Over the years at The Ark Church, we have built buildings, added staff, and helped launch other churches. That increase came with challenges. We can do so much more with buildings, but the building process has problems, and the building maintenance is expensive. But we would not be nearly as effective today if we did not have the facilities. By adding staff, we increase our ability to reach out and serve more people. But staff comes with staff challenges; we hire humans, not robots. But the blessings of staff far outweigh the problems.
If you are looking to increase more this year, that’s great! Go for it! But just know it will require more from you.