03.17.15 

Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. - Psalm 25:4 NKJV. 

Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. - Psalm 27:11 NKJV. 

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. - Psalm 32:8 NKJV. 

Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, And teach out of Your law. - Psalm 94:12 NKJV. 

Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. - Psalm 143:10 NKJV. 

“God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:5c-7 NKJV. 

Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. - Matthew 5:5 NKJV. 

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. - James 4:10 NKJV. 

Frano Selak claims to have faced death and survived more times than most. Frano worked as a music teacher in Croatia, and if Frano is still alive he would be 86-years-old now. Frano’s first brush with death occurred in 1962 when the train he was riding in came off the tracks crashing into a river. Selak was pulled to safety, but 17 passengers drowned. In 1963, on the only flight he has taken, a door came open and he was blown out. The plane crashed and 19 people were killed. Frano survived having landed on a haystack (There is no record of a plane crash in Croatia in 1963; however, records in that time period for that area were not perfect.). In 1966, Frano came close to death again when the bus he was riding in slid into a river. He was able to swim to shore, but four passengers drowned. In 1968, he was teaching his youngest son how to shoot a gun when he shot himself, and once again he survived. In 1970, his car caught on fire and he barely escaped before the gas tank exploded. In 1995, a bus hit him, but he only had minor injuries. In 1996, while driving on a mountain road, he swerved to miss a truck with his car which then crashed through a guard rail. Frano was thrown from the car, just before the car plunged 300 feet into a canyon. 

Frano has encountered and escaped some bad things in his life, even if only half of his stories are true. One thing we know for sure is that in 2003 Frano won $1,110,000 in a lottery. We also know that Frano has learned some things through his experiences in life. For a while he lived in a mansion, but came to the conclusion that as he puts it, “money cannot buy happiness.” Frano sold the mansion, and gave away most of his money to family, friends, and church. He then moved back to where he used to live in a much smaller and humbler home. (The Telegraph; BBC; Wikipedia 05.14.10 and various other news venues) 

Proverbs 9:9 tells us, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.” It took Frano Selak a substantial part of his life to become a wise man. He has been married five times, but is now very happy with wife number five. He has experienced what it is like to be rich, but now is much happier since giving his riches away. The Psalmist says, “Blessed is the man whom You instruct.” No doubt God was busy in Frano’s life trying to gain his attention and to teach him. It appears that Frano has finally listened gaining much peace of mind and heart in the process. 

How do we arrive at a point where God can teach us, and we can be wise enough to put His instruction to work in our lives? The key appears to be having or gaining humility. I believe in my own life facing adverse circumstances increased my humility and dependence upon God. Almost losing my wife, multiple car accidents, losing jobs, losing a business, and struggling financially decreased my pride and increased my humility. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek.” This word “meek” is sometimes translated in other versions of the Bible as “humble.” Peter and James both tell us to humble ourselves. Peter says to humble ourselves “under the mighty hand of God” and James says to humble ourselves “in the sight of the Lord.” If we do humble ourselves before God we will be wise (Proverbs 9:9), we will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5), God will lift us up (James 4:10), and God will exalt us (1 Peter 5:6).