I love writing and public speaking (which also entails preaching). At the risk of sounding immodest, I believe I am good at what I do because I pay the price of “dying daily” to many things so that my real ‘juice’ can find the best expression possible at any given time. Money is not the primary reason why I do it; I do it because I love it. It just happens that I get paid to do what I would literally do in my sleep! Each of these two activities makes me pulsate with life, so I give it my best shot every time.
There is a place in life where you do not run after success; it runs after you. Money was designed to be a reward not a pursuit; so it is useless pursuing it! It will always be found wherever there is value to be rewarded. Resolve to CONSISTENTLY make yourself valuable in the areas of my core strengths. To be a man of means, be a man of value.
Why do most people never seem to locate their ASSIGNMENT, that PLACE where their success can come naturally and in great abundance? Simple. They are so busy complaining about what they do not have or what someone did to hurt or betray them that they have never taken time to appreciate what they have! Sometimes, they are so envious of God’s blessings on another person that they need to be rudely reminded that they too have equal access to the inheritance called life. When the elder brother of the prodigal son complained about the lavish reception given his brother, his father replied, “You are always with me and all I have is yours!” If he had known that, instead of keeping a tab on what his brother was doing abroad, he would have long been delivered from his “small goat” mindset!
Undue concentration on other people’s success or failure simply robs you of the energy you require to focus on your own destination. You don’t have to ride on life’s rollercoaster and get to the end of the bumpy ride wondering what happened. Wealth that you get by accident will be frittered away by design. Life isn’t a rehearsal. It’s the real thing. Wake up! The play has started; but have you mastered your lines yet?
There’s a place where the “juice” of your life flows with the greatest ease. Find it and defend it because ‘it’ is worth fighting (and even risking jail, death or exile) for! Only those who have found a reason to die have found a reason for living! Experience has taught me that there is no properly developed skill that cannot be marketed for a good price! Social media has created more millionaires in a shorter period than at any other time in history.
The generation that your life is relevant to usually gives you the honour of naming your price. Joseph did not become second in command in Egypt, a land he came to as a slave, because he had a dream. He got the office because he interpreted other people’s dreams!
A few years ago, I flew into London. I had presumed on the weather and had my projections messed up by the characteristically unpredictable British weather. As I ran into a taxi while lamenting the harshness of the weather, I lifted my eyes and right ahead of me was a huge billboard on which was written, “The world makes room for the man who knows where he is going.” For the greater part of that trip, that was my food for thought.
I had been stranded severally before I learnt that no one was created to be stranded on the journey of life. No wonder the scriptures declare that ‘the gift of a man makes room for him and makes him to stand before kings and not before ordinary men’. I know that this scripture is talking about a material gift evident of a life of generosity. However, you also need to know that your life itself is a gift to creation. To get a place in the places that matter, your life must be shared with others.
If you can make your assignment produce what kings need and are willing to reward, you will be paid a price that only kings can pay! Your life is a gift from God but how you use it is your gift back to Him. Your assignment is the seed that God has given to you to produce that harvest that you are so feverishly bombarding God for.
When God established the seed and harvest cycle in creation, He was giving every man the privilege of using his present to design his own future. Lawyers tell us that you cannot build something on nothing. If nothing gives, then nothing gets. The consistent development and investment of your assignment is the only thing that guarantees a flow of resources into your life.
The key word here is ‘investment’. The primary resource is time. Losers waste it. Winners invest it. Invest time to DISCOVER what your assignment is. Invest time to DEVELOP it into a marketable skill and finally, DEPLOY it by turning it into a profitable venture.
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Picture this: You’re 90 years old, sitting on a rocking chair under a tree in your yard, and thinking about the great things that have happened in your life. Suddenly, a stream of regret finds its way into your loftiest thoughts. Various chapters of your past life roll by as you recall the many things you could have achieved with the potentials God gave you but didn’t. But all that is now history. A tinge of sadness creeps in. You rock back on the chair and tears gather under your eyes as you suddenly realize that the drama of life had been playing out without even bothering to know if you mastered your lines or not. The train called the ‘Freedom Express’ passed by you several times, but you never jumped on it!
Every newborn baby enters this world with clenched fists as if to announce to the world, “I brought something for you!” Conversely, all men die with their hands wide open as if they were saying, “I left it all here”.
Dear friend, you were born with a gift, your assignment to the world. Unique to you, it may seem insignificant but so do the seeds that produce an orchard. You can count the number of seeds in an orange, but you cannot count the number of oranges in a seed. The seed of that gift is God’s answer to the prayer you had always prayed for an orchard… continued
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
