May 14, 2025
Building anything real — a business, a brand, a team — always includes seasons where progress is painfully slow.
You keep showing up. You keep making the calls. You keep doing the work. And still, the results drag behind you like dead weight, daring you to speed up.
That’s when shortcuts get tempting. When a rushed hire, a shaky deal, or a reaction-based pivot start to feel like relief. But they’re not. They’re debt. And you will pay for them.
This verse is a warning, but it’s also an invitation. Abundance doesn’t float in. According to Proverbs, it’s pulled in by steady hands — the kind that make real plans, then follow through with quiet discipline.
The word for "plans" in the original language is the same word used in Exodus for the Spirit-filled designs of the tabernacle. Structure. Blueprints. Craftsmanship. Plans that could hold something holy. And “diligence” here doesn’t mean grind. It means sharpened. Focused. Clear.
You can work your fingers to the bone and still end up broke — emotionally, financially, spiritually — if you skipped the step where wisdom was required. Fixing the damage from hasty decisions is its own kind of endurance race. Rebuilding culture. Untangling contracts. Recovering trust. It’s slow. And it should be.
The fix takes the same tools the original build required — a plan, and the patience to walk it out. If you don’t have time to do it right, how will you ever have time to do it twice?
There’s no hack for maturity. No fast-track for abundance. But there is a promise: when you lead with plans and diligence, the outcome isn’t in question — only the timeline.
Below is a breakdown of the Hebrew words used in today’s passage.
According to a DNA test, I’m 17% Ashkenazi Jewish, which has never helped me with pronunciation or knowing any Hebrew — but thankfully, study tools and the internet exist – so here you go:
> Plans = machashavot
This word is used in Exodus 35 to describe the Spirit-filled skill of Bezalel as he crafted the tabernacle. These aren’t brainstorms — they’re blueprints. Designed, detailed, and able to hold weight.
> Diligent = charuts
Often translated as hardworking, but more accurately means sharp, decisive, and steady. The kind of clarity that cuts clean through complexity — and stays the course.
> Abundance = motar
A word meaning “what is left over.” Not luxury — margin. The kind that gives you space to think, lead, and give without being reactive.
> Hasty = ʾāts
Carries the sense of being pressed, hurried, or pushed forward by pressure. Not fast thinking — forced movement that sacrifices wisdom.
> Poverty = machsor
A lack, a gap, a deficit — often self-created by rushed decisions. This poverty shows up in burnout, imbalance, and regret.