28/04/2026
...that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of UNDERSTANDING, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11
The fourth determinant is understanding.
Understanding is very different from knowledge or wisdom. The importance of understanding is best seen by its absence.
People without understanding are different from people without wisdom.
People without understanding are different from people without knowledge. Indeed, people without understanding are stubborn and difficult to relate with. It is not easy to have a good relationship with someone who lacks understanding.
Most people understand just what they have experienced. If they have experienced what it is to be a woman, they really understand women’s issues but have no understanding about what it means to be a man. If they have been to prison before, they have a great understanding about what it means to be a prisoner and then they start a prisons ministry. If they have had a strange disease, they have great empathy for those with that condition. They go ahead and start special clubs and groups for fellow sufferers.
Most of the time, people understand what they have experienced. Poor people empathise with other hungry people.
Jesus was different! He understood things He had never experienced.
That makes Him God. He said, “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not” (Matthew 25:42-43).
Jesus taught us to care for all these difficult situations caused mostly by poverty. Even though he had not been to prison and had never been sick, he showed understanding and compassion about the great difficulties such people experience.
Your understanding determines how far you go in life and everything you are involved in
May God give you the spirit of understanding
Excerpt from the book, The Determinant
By : Dag Heward Mills
Grab a copy at Dagbooks.org for free