But for those who are righteous, the path is not steep and rough. You are a God of justice, and you smooth out the road ahead of them.
When we seek God first and wholeheartedly, He makes us pure and righteous. When we strive to live a holy life, God sees our efforts and rewards us with His blessings. Smoothing out the road ahead of us is one of those blessings. The road we have to walk while we are in this world is rough, dangerous, steep, and dark. But when we walk with Jesus at our side, He lights our road so we can see where we’re going. He takes care of the problems and goes ahead of us to confront the enemy and fight on our behalf. Then, the road becomes narrow, smooth, and safe for us to continue our walk.
If you are doing your best and striving to live a holy life, don’t despair when you see the wicked succeed. God is a God of justice and their turn will come when they will vanish. “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives… Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Travel steadily along his path, He will honor you, giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed” (Psalm 37:23, 34 NLT).
If you find yourself right now on a rough road—either at work or at home—stop what you’re doing and seek God with all your heart. Examine yourself to see if you have missed His direction at some point, repent if necessary, and ask Him to make your road smooth. He will listen to your prayers and answer your plea. He will not desert you. He loves you.
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.