A Call for Modesty and Discretion
Tí iṣu ẹni bá ta, á máa ń fi ọwọ́ bòó jẹ ni.
Yoruba Proverb
Here we go again—another post, another piece of Yoruba wisdom. I promise that after this, we’ll take a little break from Yoruba proverbs. 🤭
“Tí iṣu ẹni bá ta, á máa ń fi ọwọ́ bòó jẹ ni.”
It literally translates to: If your yam yields massively, you harvest and consume it while shielding it with your hands.
This proverb is a call to modesty, wisdom, and discretion.
What inspired this post was a message I listened to by Pastor Poju Oyemade titled Exercising Discernment to Protect Your Destiny. He spoke about the importance of being discerning and discreet with our plans, aspirations, and relationships.
Interestingly, this proverb had been lingering in my mind for a while, but I hadn’t quite figured out how to present it. Then came that message, and everything clicked.
Act Before You Announce
One point that particularly stood out to me was Pastor Poju‘s emphasis on the importance of acting swiftly when opportunities present themselves. His admonition was striking: if an opportunity comes and all we do is talk about it, without taking action, we risk losing it. In his words, once you speak about it and fail to act, someone else may seize that same opportunity and run with it.
The message was a call to alertness, diligence, and industry. It was a warning against procrastination and endless deliberation. Too often, we spend more time discussing our ideas than actually executing them. We announce plans, seek validation, and gather opinions before taking even the first step. Yet ideas are meant to be nurtured through action, not merely conversation.
Pastor Poju shared the example of an artist who, whenever inspiration struck, would immediately head to the studio to capture it. I suspect he may have been referring to Prince. His legendary work ethic is well documented. Stories abound of him scribbling lyrics on napkins, walking into the studio, and emerging hours later with an entire song completed—vocals recorded, instruments laid down, and the vision fully realised.
When inspiration came, he treated it as something precious. He captured it before it slipped away.
There is a lesson in that for all of us.
Ideas Need Action, Not Applause
When God gives us an idea, a lead, a solution, or an opportunity, our first instinct should not be to announce it to the world. Our first response should be to pray about it and act on it.
Talk to God before you talk to everybody else. Take the first step in the place of prayer. Do the research. Make the call. Write the proposal. Register the business. Start the project.
Then keep moving.
The reality is that there are billions of people in the world. The idea you are sitting on may not have been given exclusively to you. Others may be seeing similar opportunities at the same time. The difference often lies in who acts.
While one person is still pondering, discussing, and seeking endless validation, another person is already building.
This is not a call to anxiety or haste. It is a call to stewardship. Ideas are gifts, but they require action. Opportunities are doors, but someone must walk through them.
So before you rush to share your next big idea, ask yourself: Have I taken any meaningful action on it yet?
Most times the wisest thing you can do is not to announce the opportunity – It is to act on it.
The Bible warns us:
“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come…” (Proverbs 24:33-34)
This “sleep” is not always physical. Sometimes it is the neglect of our dreams, ideas, and opportunities. It is delaying action while endlessly talking about what we intend to do. Our eyes need to be open to opportunities and insights that God places before us. We must be willing to nurture them until they bloom.
Don’t Open the Door to the Wrong Person
By all means, be social. Build relationships. Connect with people. But not everyone should gain unrestricted access to your life.
Discernment is essential.
Discernment is not only about recognising opportunities; it is also about recognising people.
Scripture gives us a sobering example in the story of the wise men. Having followed the star in search of the newborn King, they stopped to ask Herod where the child could be found (Matthew 2:1-8). On the surface, Herod appeared interested in worshipping Jesus, but his intentions were far from honourable.
Herod saw the birth of Jesus as a threat to his throne. His desire for information was not driven by worship but by a plan to destroy. When his scheme failed, he ordered the massacre of innocent children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).
The lesson is not that the wise men were wicked or careless. Rather, it reminds us that we cannot always discern people’s motives based on appearances alone. Not everyone who asks questions is seeking to help. Not everyone who shows interest in our plans is cheering us on.
This is why we need God’s wisdom and discernment. Some doors should only be opened after prayer. Some conversations should only happen with people God has authorised to walk closely with us.
Not Everyone Needs Access
Not everyone belongs in your inner circle. Some people are genuinely supportive, while others may discourage, distract, compete with, or even sabotage what God is doing in your life. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing, people who appear friendly but whose intentions are far from noble.
This is why we must be careful about who we open up to and when.
Jesus Himself demonstrated this principle. Although He ministered to multitudes and had twelve disciples, He did not share everything with everyone. There were moments when He revealed certain things only to Peter, James, and John. At other times, He instructed them not to share what they had seen or heard (Mark 9:9).
Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Mark 9:9
Even our trust levels should not be the same for everyone.
We are often very liberal with the word “friend,” but not everyone who occupies a space in our lives is truly a friend.
Isaiah 42:18-22 reminds us that God reveals things, but sometimes we are too distracted to perceive them. Likewise, 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 teaches that spiritual truths require spiritual discernment.
Without God’s wisdom, we cannot truly know whom to hold close.
A Lesson From Real Life
Shortly after listening to that message, I watched a video of a lady sharing how her mother had disclosed their family’s relocation plans to a close relative. According to her, from that point onward, things seemed to encounter one obstacle after another.
Whether you view that as coincidence or something deeper is entirely up to you. What struck me was her observation that once her mother stopped sharing every detail, things appeared to move more smoothly. The moment I watched that video, I knew it was the final nudge I needed to write this post.
Now, some of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking, “Oh dear, Aunty Lulu has joined the superstitious crowd!”
Not quite.
This isn’t about superstition. It is about a principle I have observed repeatedly in life and one I increasingly see reflected in Scripture.
So Should We Never Share Our Plans?
Not at all.
In fact, I recently wrote about the importance of collaboration and community, and I still firmly believe in both. The key difference is this: there is a distinction between building in community and broadcasting every detail of your life.
Collaboration requires trusted relationships, accountability, wisdom, and mutual support. Oversharing, on the other hand, often stems from excitement, a desire for validation, or the assumption that everyone around us wishes us well.
This Yoruba proverb reminds us that not everything needs an audience.
If your yam yields massively, you harvest and consume it while shielding it with your hands—not because you are selfish, but because you understand its value. You protect it from unnecessary attention. Likewise, some dreams, plans, opportunities, and blessings need to be nurtured in private before they are exposed to the world.
I’ve noticed that sometimes we talk too soon. We announce plans before they are fully formed, share aspirations before we’ve taken meaningful steps, and seek applause before the work is done. In doing so, we may unknowingly dilute our focus, invite discouragement, or expose fragile ideas to opinions they are not yet strong enough to withstand.
This is not about living in fear, It is about exercising discernment.
The Wisdom of Hidden Growth
Not everyone needs access to every chapter of your story.
There are people with whom we can safely share our dreams—mentors, trusted friends, wise counsellors, family members who genuinely support us, and those who have earned the right to speak into our lives. These relationships are invaluable.
However, wisdom lies in knowing who belongs in the planning stage and who can be invited to the celebration once the vision has taken shape. Even nature teaches us this lesson.
A seed develops underground long before anyone sees the plant. A pregnancy is nurtured in secret before a child is introduced to the world. Some of life’s most beautiful outcomes begin in hidden places.
Jesus also modelled this principle beautifully. Before choosing His disciples, He spent an entire night in prayer (Luke 6:12-13). He did not make such an important decision casually.
And even among the disciples was Judas. While Judas’s role ultimately fulfilled Scripture (and Jesus was aware of this), his presence serves as a reminder that we must exercise wisdom regarding who we authorize into our lives.
No Need for Chochocho
Sometimes we are too quick to announce what God has only just begun. Rather than broadcasting every development, build an altar of prayer around it.
Pray over it. Work on it. Thank God for it.
“Let my prayer be set before thee as incense…”
Psalm 141:2
As you pray, God often reveals the next steps, the right people to involve, and the wisdom required to steward the opportunity well. Some conversations are meant to be had with God before they are had with people.
The truth is, we can never fully know the heart of another person. But through God’s wisdom and guidance, we can learn who to trust, when to speak, and when to remain silent.
Perhaps that is what this proverb is encouraging us to embrace: the wisdom of quiet progress.
Work diligently, Pray earnestly, Build consistently, Share selectively.
And when the time is right, the results will speak for themselves.
After all,
“Tí iṣu ẹni bá ta, á máa ń fi ọwọ́ bòó jẹ ni.”
Not everything precious needs to be public.
One More Thing…
Before you run off to tell everybody your next big idea, perhaps take a moment to pray about it and take the first step instead. 😉
With love, wisdom, and just a sprinkle of Yoruba proverbs,
Aunty Lulu
Explore More Yoruba Proverb-Inspired Reflections
Ohun Tí A Ní Là ń Gbé Lárugẹ: A Reflection on Self-Worth, Honor, and Intentional Living
Ìwà lẹ́wà: The Beauty of Good Character
