DO you really want to put an end to your pity party and start living? Hear the Bible,
“Except a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone.”
You have not started living until you die to self and start becoming more sensitive to your environment. The secret of your success depends on your ability to meet the needs of your environment. Society is not interested in the name of the university you attended or the description of your degree. The employer who wants to employ you will do so based on your relevance to his organization, not because of your looks or your paper qualifications. These days, your solution pedigree is more valuable than your college degree.
Never allow anyone to deceive you into thinking that the whole word is at your feet. The world does not have to make room for you unless you have a predetermined destination. Several years ago, I flew into London through Heathrow airport. As my ride into town pulled out of the airport, my eyes went up and alighted on a giant billboard on which was written, “The world makes room for the man who knows where he is going”.
The enemy within you is more dangerous than any enemy around you. Deal with the enemy within, and you will find out that the external enemy will be powerless to stop you. We live in a society which excels in playing the blame game. Once you can put your problem at another man’s doorstep, you feel satisfied and exonerated from any responsibility. But such satisfaction is at best psychological and pacifist. It may pacify you but it will not satisfy you. There is a whole world of difference between that which pacifies and that which satisfies.
Unfortunately, instead of confronting the real issues of their lives and taking responsibility under God for their destiny, people go from one prayer mountain to another, hunting for enemies who exist more in their imagination than in reality. The reason why many people don’t want to hear about what will fix them permanently is because it will demand responsibility from them. That is a word many people cringe to hear.
This year, do some serious soul-searching. Sit down and address the real issues in your life. Ask God to open your eyes of understanding and to let you know what you need to become so that you can do what you need to do. When you become what God wants you to become, what you do will also be right. You do what you do because you are who you are.
There are times in our lives as human beings when we have certain expectations from people, and we think that society and the world in general owe us something. We think that once we have a “great” idea or vision, the whole world should embrace it. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Just because you are inspired by your vision does not mean another person will share your sentiments about it. An entitlement mentality will only result in depression especially when your expectations are disappointed by the people you thought owed you something.
There is an instructive passage from the Holy Bible that anchors the essence of this series. It is found in Luke 2:1-6.
“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, … unto…Bethlehem… to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”
The first lesson here is that pregnancy always precedes delivery. Pregnancy is the only reason why you can talk about delivery at all. You cannot bring to birth what you have not first conceived. Unfortunately, a great number of people have desires but no clearly stated vision. I was like that too, until I learned the lessons I am about to share with you. You can talk about everything you want God to do for you, or that you want to do for God, but talk is cheap. If you are truly pregnant, it will produce visible changes in your lifestyle and in your priorities.
There is no pregnant woman who does not undergo change, both physical and psychological. The appetite changes. So does the dress code. And so does her physique. Relationship boundaries are re-drawn. The vision that you are pregnant with automatically changes certain things about you. If you are having a hard time changing your character, priorities or your relationships, it is because you are not yet pregnant. Something must gestate inside you before it is released into the circumstances and situations around you. What is growing in you, is it a vision or anger and resentment? Negativity is the language of the indolent.
The second lesson is that your pregnancy comes with purpose attached to it. The vision that you are pregnant with must be bigger than yourself. Mary was pregnant with the vision (Jesus) that was supposed to bring deliverance to mankind. Any vision inspired by God is always bigger than its carrier. That is why Mary, who was a virgin at the time of the conception asked, “Lord how will these things be, seeing that I know no man?” The angel replied that it was going to be completely out of Mary’s natural understanding. It would be purely divine.
You cannot be the solution to every problem of humanity, but you are a solution to one or some of humanity’s dilemma. Every God-inspired vision is God’s instrument for bringing a solution to certain problems faced by one or several people. Whatever makes you uncomfortable or angry in the environment may be an indication of a problem that you are called to solve. When God is about to birth something through you, there is a stirring, a discomfort with status quo. Nothing happens in God by accident. Even what we call coincidence or even serendipity is God working in anonymity. There is a change that your vision will effect. There is a difference it will make. There are several lives waiting to be touched by your vision.
Decide your destination before you embark on the journey. For many of us, the question life is asking us is “Where are you going?” And the answer we are giving is; “Anywhere my feet carry me.” Quite a number of people are like the man shooting arrows without a specific target. When asked what he was aiming at, he replied, “Wherever the arrow lands.” When people ask me to mentor them, the first question I ask them is, “To do or become what?”. Very often, people who seek mentorship have no idea where they are headed, and they expect a mentor to prescribe a destination for them. Mentorship can only help you to chart a path towards the destination you have seen but will not give you one… continued.
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
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