On a morning of early winter, after getting up, Hua Rui obviously felt the air was chilly and couldn’t help shivering with cold. She rubbed her hands for a while, and then sat at the desk and turned her laptop on. She opened a document named “My Mood Diary” as usual and wrote down a little episode happening between her and her partner Mai Miao the other day.
That day, Hua Rui and Mai Miao needed to contrive a scheme together. First they discussed the direction of the scheme and exchanged their thoughts about the scheme, and then they drew up the outline without a hitch. The following was to design the background of the front page. Hua Rui thought to herself: I’m younger. My thoughts are more fashionable and futuristic, so I should play the leading role in designing the background of the front page. However, though she thought for a long time, she still couldn’t come up with a creative idea. She was at a loss what to do and became agitated. When watching that Hua Rui was making little headway, Mai Miao said worriedly: “I have thought out a background for the front page. Could you give me some advice?” Listening perfunctorily, Hua Rui thought to herself: Usually I’m better than you at designing the pictures. With such a thick skull, how can you think out any good ideas? When Mai Miao finished her words, Hua Rui immediately denied her idea. And then Mai Miao put forward another two ideas, but Hua Rui only shook her head in refusal. When finding Hua Rui didn’t adopt her ideas and afraid that the work would be delayed, Mai Miao said to Hua Rui: “Let’s design the background separately!” With these words, she returned to her seat. Watching Mai Miao’s retreating figure, Hua Rui was overwhelmed by feelings of loss and depression: What’s wrong with me? I don’t have any idea and my partner doesn’t want to cooperate with me. How can I finish the job?
Painfully, Hua Rui didn’t know what to do, so she quieted herself and prayed to God: “O God! I always refuse to adopt my partner’s ideas and despise her because I think her ideas are outdated, and say nothing new. O God! I don’t know what to do next. May You lead me!” After returning home, Hua Rui read a passage of God’s words: “At times, when coordinating to fulfill their duties, two people have a dispute over a matter of principle. They have different viewpoints and they develop different opinions. What can be done in that case? Is that an issue that occurs frequently? This is a normal phenomenon. It’s because there are differences between everyone’s minds, calibers, insights, ages, and experiences. In addition, it’s impossible that the things in two people’s brains will be the same, so it’s a very common phenomenon that they develop different opinions and different views. This is extremely commonplace and you shouldn’t make a fuss over it. The critical issue is how you should coordinate and how you should seek to achieve unity in front of God, and have a unified opinion when you encounter this kind of issue.” How objective and practical God’s words are! Faced with problems, everyone has their own views and opinions because they are different in mind, caliber, insight, and experience. Therefore, it is very common that people have different views. Hua Rui couldn’t help reflecting on how she treated her partner. Since she began to coordinate with Mai Miao, she had always been thinking that she herself was young and excellent; that Mai Miao’s thought was always outdated, and thus she never truly accepted Mai Miao’s opinions …
Thinking here, Hua Rui thought of another passage of God’s words: “So what does the phrase ‘whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof’ indicate? It suggests that God did not make any amendments to the names of the various living creatures. Whatever name Adam called it, God would say ‘Yes’ and register the name as is. Did God express any opinions? No, that’s for sure. So what do you see here? God gave man intelligence and man used his God-given intelligence to do things. If what man does is positive in the eyes of God, then it is affirmed, acknowledged, and accepted by God without any evaluation or criticism. This is something no person or evil spirit, or Satan, can do. … At that moment, if it were a corrupted person or Satan who was with Adam, they would have certainly rejected what Adam was doing. To prove that they have the ability to think independently and have their own unique insights, they would have absolutely denied everything Adam did: ‘You want to call it this? Well, I’m not going to call it this, I’m going to call it that; you called it Tom but I’m going to call it Harry. I have to show off my brilliance.’ What kind of nature is this? Is it not wildly arrogant? But does God have such a disposition? Did God have any unusual objections to this thing Adam did? The answer is unequivocally no! Of the disposition God reveals, there is not the slightest ounce of argumentativeness, arrogance, or self-rightness. That is abundantly clear here.” Each and every one of God’s words pricked Hua Rui’s heart. At work, Hua Rui seldom adopted her partner’s ideas but often denied all her opinions. Whatever her partner said, she preferred designing everything herself. Even sometimes she would rather delay the work than adopt her partner’s opinions. Just at that time, Hua Rui realized how arrogant and self-righteous she was. When God asked Adam to name the animals, whatever Adam called the animals, God all agreed. God is the Creator. How almighty, wise, and supreme He is! But there is not any arrogance in His disposition, while she herself was so arrogant and self-righteous to the point of having no reason. She did everything according to such corrupt disposition of Satan as “Wanting to be the master of all things” and “Considering oneself to be the most honorable.” At this thought, Hua Rui couldn’t hold her tears and thought: How can I harmoniously coordinate with others, living by the corrupt disposition of Satan? How can I do my job successfully without harmonious coordination? Realizing these, Hua Rui prayed to God: “O God! I’m too arrogant in nature. Living by this, I have no sense of responsibility in my job, and can’t treat my partner fairly, but even hurt her. I see that I haven’t lived out normal humanity. O God! I’m willing to turn around and repent. I only beg that You can guide me to find the paths of practice.”
Later, Hua Rui read a passage of God’s words: “No matter how capable people are, how astute they are, or how talented they are, there’ll always be something that’s beyond them, something they’re incapable of understanding. … In the areas that are beyond you, you always need the support and help of others.” From God’s words, Hua Rui came to understand God’s purpose of letting people work together. Gold can’t be pure and man can’t be perfect. So even if one might be of good caliber, he is not omnipotent. Everyone has his own inadequacies and deficiencies. And there is some time one will be weak. Hua Rui remembered that though she was better at designing the background, she often was bewildered and at a loss when she did with the later part of many programs. She thinking about that, her eyes lit up. She thought: Aren’t these what I’m deficient in? I just needed to coordinate and cooperate with others in these aspects. At that time, Hua Rui felt brightened. Then Hua Rui put herself aside, opened her heart, and had a chat with Mai Miao. She opened herself up and revealed her inner ugliness to Mai Miao. Through communing, the estrangement between them was removed. Both of them were determined to finish the scheme together.
In the following work, Hua Rui carefully listened to her partner’s ideas and opinions. When there was anything she didn’t understand, Hua Rui actively asked about the partner’s suggestions and made a decision after reaching an agreement. Besides, Hua Rui could modestly listen to and adopt the partner’s suggestions where something should be improved. Soon, the program got finished. Both Hua Rui and Mai Miao felt relieved.
After the experience, Hua Rui deeply felt: The thing done by two people together is more perfect and comprehensive than by one person alone. During their cooperation, she found that Mai Miao was rather insightful. After all, she had seen little of the world and her experience was shallow; she was not mature or experienced in her thought and speaking. Through cooperation with Mai Miao, she could make up for the deficiencies in these aspects. Through this experience, Hua Rui realized the secret to success: Put ourselves aside and learn to listen to others’ suggestions, leading a low-key life. Why not learn from others to make up for our own deficiencies if their opinions are just what we lack? One person’s ability is limited. Only when we exert all our strength can we achieve good results. If we can cooperate and coordinate with each other, we will do our work better and get twice the result with half the effort. Just as God’s words says: “You use your strengths to make up for his shortcomings, and he uses his strengths to make up for your shortcomings. This is called learning from each other, and harmonious coordination.”
……
The sky outside the window was bright, clear, and blue. The sun was rising slowly and shining on Hua Rui’s cheeks through the window. She gently closed the laptop and walked with graceful steps on her way to her company, casting a long shadow in the morning sun …
