Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.
In our lives we have times when we don’t know where to turn. Every avenue we look into for a solution is shut down. We keep thinking and brainstorming in anguish, trying to figure it all out on our own. It is in those times we must go to God for refuge. He wants to be our refuge, our comforter, our savior. When we pray this prayer to Him, He will come through for us and will keep us safe.
It takes understanding to realize we can’t do it alone. “It” means our lives. We can’t live a true successful life without involving God. The world’s definition of success is not godly success. There are many successful people in this world that are not happy, regardless of their fame, material possessions, or profession. On the other hand, there are people that don’t have many material things that live successful lives. Why? Because God fills in the blank for all the other things they don’t have.
The Bible also says there will be poor people in the world always. There are poor people who are happy and those who are miserable. What is the difference? The ones that are happy have the Lord and His joy in their lives. They understand their need for Him, and they seek Him.
It is not a matter of being rich or poor. It is a matter of having Jesus in our hearts or not. It is a matter of involving God in every decision we make. To live a successful and balanced life, we must have the Lord with us, in every step of our life here on earth. To be successful is to live the will of God for our lives every day. If we do that, when our turn comes to meet our Creator, He will say to us “Well done!… You are a trustworthy servant” (Luke 19:17 NLT), and we will be able to say we fought a good fight, finished our race, and remained faithful (2 Timothy 4:7 NLT).
Excerpt permission granted by Marcia Malzahn.
Marcia Malzahn (Marci) was born in Nicaragua, Central America. In 1979 she left Nicaragua due to a revolution and moved to the Dominican Republic and lived there for seven years. Marcia moved to Minnesota in 1986 and started a career in banking with Marquette Banks that continued for the next thirteen years in the areas of Cash Management, Private Banking, and Retail Banking. In 1995 Marcia became the first Online Banking Specialist in the Twin Cities.
In 1999, she moved to the IT field and started working for Living Word Christian Center (LWCC), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. At LWCC, she held the positions of Y2K Project Manager, Director of IT, Associate in charge of Finance, Human Resources and IT, and was Corporate Assistant Secretary of the Board. She managed a budget of $31.5MM and 28 employees.
In January 2005, Marcia moved back to the banking field and helped start a new bank in Edina, MN, Tradition Capital Bank, now at over $400 million in assets. From 2005 to 2013, Marcia was the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of the bank. In January, 2014, Marcia’s role changed to EVP/COO and was promoted to Chief Risk Officer. Marcia was also the Corporate Secretary of the bank’s Board and of the holding company’s Board.
In October 2014, Marcia started her own bank consulting firm, Malzahn Strategic, focusing on Strategic Planning, Enterprise Risk Management, and Talent Management for community banks. Marcia is also a public speaker and speaks on motivational/inspirational/leadership topics as well as banking topics such as Enterprise Risk Management. She holds an Associates of Arts degree from North Hennepin Community College and graduated with a B.A. in Business Management from Bethel University. Marcia also graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, WI.
Marcia is involved in the community. She was a member of Financial Women International for sixteen years and held several board positions including president of the local group and of the District. She is a member of the Minnesota Women Economic Roundtable and served as treasurer for two years. Marcia is also chair of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. Marcia has also volunteered in other organizations including Matter, Pulse Movement, Opportunity International, Way to Grow, Feed My Starving Children, HopeKids, Meals on Wheels, and Farmers Market Youth Project.
Marcia was the recipient of many awards including:
• 25 On The Rise award given by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in December, 2005.
• Forty Under 40 award given by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in May, 2006
• Virginia D. H. Furman Outstanding Woman of the Year award from Financial Women International in September, 2006
• Top Women in Finance award from Finance and Commerce Newspaper in November, 2008
• Outstanding Women in Banking award given by the North Western Financial Review magazine in November, 2009
Marcia is the author of her book Devotions for Working Women – A Daily Inspiration to Live a Successful and Balanced Life published in 2006. Marcia published her second book The Fire Within – Connect Your Gifts with Your Calling in October 2015. Marcia and her husband Tim live in Minnesota and have two children: Nicole and Patrick. Marcia enjoys spending time with her family, working out, singing, writing, and public speaking.