The voice said, “Cry out!”
And he said, “What shall I cry?”
Isaiah 40:6
Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? 1 Corinthians 14:7-8
What is your life communicating to your world? When people have an encounter with you for a considerable length of time, what would you be known for? If someone was looking for services related to your capacity, would they remember you? What would you like to be recognized for? What do you love to do with a sense of advocacy that makes you feel significant?
If Meaning defines the “WHY”, the Message can be said to be the “WHAT” of your life. Your Message is your distinct word to your world! It is your “coat of many colours” that distinguishes you from every other person around you. Even if you are in a vocation with many other people, your message stands you out because it is the flavour that you bring into your own dimension of operations. A distinct message takes you out of the pack and makes your life outstanding. It can also be referred to as the MISSION that defines your life’s COMMISSION! There is no one as unstoppable as the man whose heart is set on a mission.
The message of your life is the tangible encoding of your assignment. Everything in creation exists to solve a problem. Every creature, except man, seems to understand this truth and functions in their roles without the sense of competitive jealousy that characterizes mankind. One major challenge of humanity is that in the pursuit of the mundane, we lose sight of who we were created to be and ignore the essential pursuit of purpose and the deployment of our potentials.
Your message is the specific manifestation of your life mandate, the problem of humanity you are uniquely gifted to solve and your epitaph written in advance! Imagine that you were privileged to attend your own funeral. At the graveside, you watch as five people – your child, your spouse, your neighbour, your colleague at work, and a sibling are called upon to give an oration under oath that any of them who tells a lie would join you in the grave. They are each to begin with the phrase. “Here lies a man…” and then go ahead to enumerate at least three things you were to them in your lifetime. What would you love them to fill the gap with? If that is not what your life is currently communicating, then it is a sign that you have either not discovered your message or you are not speaking its language!
You are part of an orchestra. An orchestra is a panoply of different instruments making different, distinct sounds but combining to produce a collective rhythm. Don’t bother looking for people or building a network until you know the problem you are called to solve. When you identify and project it, life will ensure that you get connected to the people who need the value or solution code that you are offering. The problem you solve determines who finds you. Your solution code is the magnet of favour into your life. In a recent telephone conversation with a friend who is a Professor of Fine Art in the University of Texas, he told me how he received an e-mail informing him of a visit from the Director of what is arguably the biggest and most respected arts gallery in the world. He was coming to see my friend’s paintings over a two-day period. What is so special about this is that my friend did not even apply to feature his works in the gallery because he thought it was beyond his league. But he had diligently and passionately worked at his craft even when he didn’t know that anyone who mattered would notice! The world is looking for ‘saviours’ who come with a redeeming message that brings clarity into its confusion. Jesus Christ spoke it through the task of redemption. Jeff Bezos is speaking it through Amazon. Steve Jobs spoke his loud in Apple products. Dangote is speaking through household consumables. Warren Buffet is doing so in stocks. Mark Zuckerberg found his own voice in Facebook (now Meta)
The message of your life is what the world rewards with recognition or disdain. When your voice is distinct, not everyone will react to it the same way. Some will love you and some will loathe you. But you will be enabled to know those that you are sent to and those you are not. The lines of connections are no longer blurred when you find your voice. Greatness is not a popularity contest. Jesus was passionately hated by the religious system but passionately loved by ordinary, everyday people who thronged his meetings and heard him gladly. Apostle Paul’s message set him against the Jews but he was beloved of the Gentiles. Your message is not only your reward code. It also reveals your adversaries.
When I hear people say that they want to make money without first defining what they will do to earn it, I laugh. If you only exist to make money, you set yourself up for frustration. Your solution code is your earning power. The money you get is proportional to the size of problem you solve and the quantum of people who need the solution. Your wealth is hidden in the people you are able to solve a problem for. The more people you do that for, the higher your earning capacity. To build visibility and feasibility, build your capacity.
To know, develop, deploy and have confidence in your message, have confidence in your identity which, as I said last week, derives from your Maker. God is not an old-fashioned theory. To know Him is to know the real you!
Secondly, check your TOOL BOX. By this, I mean the peculiarity of your spiritual, mental and physical endowments that enable you to function with ease in a terrain where other people struggle. What are you naturally happy doing? What problems do you naturally solve? What kind of people are you comfortable with? What are your life experiences that served as learning curves? Whose burdens do you share? What are your special skills, knowledge or talent flow? What are the things you love to do to bring happiness to others? Under what conditions do you thrive most? What would you do if you knew that only God’s opinion mattered? What would you do heartily even if nobody was going to pay you a dime for doing it? These are all indications of the type of ‘instrument’ you are called to play in the orchestra of life and the platform of your contribution to its beautiful symphony. The beauty of any instrument is not in the aesthetics of its design. It is in the sound that proceeds from it when handled by a skillful player.
The world awaits your tune!
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
and then