Outline:
- Introduction
- Sheer fatalism, a curse to man
- Sustained effort along with faith in God is the key of success
- The example of great men’s achievements
- Where there is a will, there is a way
- Conclusion
In all our undertakings, we pray to God for His divine help. We generally perform an appropriate religious ceremony when we start a new enterprise or when we set out on a long journey for business or other reasons. In doing so, our aim is to please God and to make sure of God’s blessings. But we must not forget that mere prayers or religious ceremonies cannot obtain God’s blessings. God can best be pleased by work and industry. God always rewards our efforts and exertions with success and will not allow any waste of our labours. If we are determined to achieve a goal and if we put in the necessary effort, God will surely not deny us the fruits of our endeavours.
Sheer fatalism is a curse to man. If a man believes in destiny, he will lose all incentive to work. A man with fatalistic outlook on life is generally unwilling to take any initiative in any matter. He believes that there is a divinity that shapes our ends, and that determines our present and our future. He, therefore, does not see much good in action or in striving. He accepts things as they are and allows him to drift. He leaves everything to God, believing that, because God is all-merciful, things will turn out for the best. Such a man can achieve nothing. He will go through life without doing anything big and without attempting anything worthwhile. He will spend his life in the vague hope that the hand of God will surely one day lift him from his present humble position and elevate him to wealthy man through some stroke of luck. But such hopes are vain, because they are not backed by action. The life of a man who has such hopes is no better than the life of a tree. [the_ad id=”17141″]
Every man who accomplishes a big task or completes a big project could not have done so merely by placing his faith in God. One must, of course, begin with faith in God; that surely is is · the starting point. But then one must make a sustained effort to achieve the goal. If one wishes to become a big businessman, one must spend a number of years in trying to grasp all the technicalities of business; one must become an expert in, all the procedures connected with business; one must establish business contracts; one must go on step by step to attain one’s goal. Enterprise, initiative, determination and persistence are the qualities needed for success in every direction. He who shows and develops these qualities has also the blessings of God.
Columbus was keen on discovering a new land and he succeeded. God helped him because he pursued his purpose with unfailing determination. Florence Nightingale made up her mind to become a nurse and not all the opposition of her family and friends could divert her from her purpose. She ultimately started a Nursing Movement in England and achieved a great success. The reason was that she did everything herself and did not leave anything to others. She never lost her faith in God and she pursued her course with a single-minded devotion. Jinnah was a great believer in God. But he was also a man of action. Jinnah led the Pakistani nation to independence. This independence was achieved after a long, harvind bitter struggle, not merely by prayers to God.[the_ad id=”17142″]
“Where there is a will, there is a’way” – this is another famous saying and it partly means the same thing as the saying “God helps those who help themselves.” If a man has the will to do something, he will always find a way to do it. If a man truly believes in God, he will not sit down idle but he will march ahead to attain his purpose. Starting with his faith in God, he can work wonders. The feeling that God is with him acts as an urge or incentive to him to continue his deserted by God. Devotion to God loses its meaning if it does not find expression in vigorous action in some sphere of life or the other.
The moral of all this is that we should cultivate a strong will power and a hopeful attitude to life. We should set some goal before us in our lives, and then we should use our will-power and our physical energy in the attainment of that objective. Once we have decided upon an objective suiting our natural aptitudes and capacities, we should use all our energies in the effort to attain it. God will surely help us if we adopt such a course.
