I was reading a story some days ago that I had read before, but it struck me in a new way! It is a proverb, that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I have noticed this a lot in my life. That what I have seen before takes on new meaning because of the experiences that I am having. I know for how long I drove in the car with my dad for example, without paying attention to how the car was driven. It came to a time however, that the student in me was so ready, that everything that was done became a lesson for me. We are at various points in our journey, and the stories told today may not be relevant to you today, but keep them close to your heart, for as soon as the student in you is ready, the teacher will appear!
In this story, a prophet was about to die, this prophet was not a fake prophet, he was a real prophet. He was real in that he had said different things and they had come to pass, he had also done many great works, and miracles and signs. He was a respected and highly revered prophet in the land, and even the king was installed by him. On his death bed, the king came to him, and sought for him to bless him this last time. To appeal to his emotions, the king said the same words that the prophet uttered when his own mentor was departing. The prophet was touched, he decided to bless the king, but not in the conventional way of blessing, he requested that the king perform some acts of symbolism as a channel for his blessings. What you are about to read, is the strategy for ensuring that that which is yours in potential, reaches you in reality. Enjoy
The prophet asked the king to go get a bow and arrows, he asked him to open the window and shoot the arrow out. The prophet put his hands on the kings hands and he shot the arrow out. He declared that those arrows were the arrows of the delivance of his people from another country. The arrows were the seal of his blessing and victory. He now asked him to pick up more arrows, and smite them on the ground in front of him. This the king did this three times and stopped.
When the prophet saw this, he was angry, “why did you smite it three times and stop?” The prophet explained to the king, that now that he stopped with three attempts, he would only triumph 3 times and stop. If he had smited many more times, then he would have been able to wipe them out completely and secure his victory. Because he did not do enough, his victory would be shortlived. {For a fuller version of the story read – 2 Kings13:14-19}
Now back to you and I. There are numerous possibilities surrounding your life, there are loads of blessings that have been declared over your life and even for you about this year. There is what you can do and have the potentials for. Maybe you have been told that you will encounter open doors, that you will be favoured, or that you’ll be blessed in your going out and your coming in. Maybe you know that you have potentials to be great, to be rich, to be famous, to lead, to be the best that you can be. Maybe there is more to you than meets the eye, and maybe it’s all just potentials and is not currently manifesting. The question I want to ask you today is are you doing enough? What if you decided to make more calls than you currently make, what if you decided to try harder, what if you set yourself a target of trails and not triumphs of failures and not successes, what if you decided to give yourself goals that make you do more, that make you try harder tha make you strike it more than 10 times?
More often than not, the responsibility for our success lies in our hands. God has blessed, He has made the way, he has even planted the waters in the wilderness, but how will you and I know if we don’t get moving? How will we reap the harvest if we don’t go to the farm. We cannot get 10 over 5. If your potential is 10 and you gun for 5 you will never get 10. If the doors before you are all openned and you only try to access 2 of the doors, you will never know what was behind the other doors. God’s blessings are no excuses for laziness, they are genuine reasons for work. It is a rare revelation when a mortal discovers, that he has a shared responsibility in ensuring that whatever it was that is his by divine blessings materializes.
I’ll give you my personal example, the day that academic excellence began to matter to me, was the day I discovered that the fact that God’s words says that I have more understanding than my teachers or the ancients was not sufficient reason for me to begin to manisfest the same. If the divine calls me intelligent, then I must work like one who wants to be. I must read like I would understand, I must prepare like someone working back from the answers to the question. If indeed you want to be victorious, then you must not strike it 3 times and relax, you must strike it with passion and more.
I’m sure there is a statement I made a while ago that should trouble you a bit. I said count your trials not your triumphs, count your failures not your successes. Yeah, I said that, and here is how that works. If I told myself that I want to reach 50 companies, in my quest to reach 50, I might indeed succeed with 10, someone who set the goal of succeeding with 10 however might give up after 30 unsuccessful attempts because he didn’t set a goal of trying and trying. The process of success has many failures in it, and once we make up our mind that we are willing to fail 100 times before we give up, we’ll have discovered a secret to success.
I once read in a book the science of getting rich, that once your thoughts can hold on to what you want, and your desire for it is strong enough, the connecting module of your visiualizations and desires is your actions. You need to begin to act in a certain way, and then your desire will find a channel within your work to become manifest. This means you need to step up the quality and quantity of your delivery in line with your desire. Your wealth is real in potential form, but it will not manifest until you do enough and perhaps more.
What do you need to do? Do it with passion! What is the work that your hand currently finds? Do it with all your might? Are you working for someone, then do the work as if you are working for God. Whatever it is that is in your hands, don’t take it lightly, it’s your connection to your lext level. Do more!
Well done again.
Thanks for the reminder Sir
Well, what more can be said. Truly this is another rude awakening, at least for me, from my excuse-laden slumber. I believe I can still squeeze in some more. You have landed the knock on the proverbial “eye of the blade.” Thanks once more for this.
“Not enough” was the first topics/form that i first heard this discussion under.I think what is more important is to rely on God for direction, so that you won’t over do it again. There is a time to act and there is a time to hold back, what you need is direction.Thank you for the word of wisdom.
Spot on!
Most times in our bid not to be wrong, not to want too much to lose out of the immense benefits that is being laid out in front of us if only we could step out and walk on water…
respect..
Deolu, this is another insight from you. May God bless you real good. You are a blessing to this generation.
Timely message Deolu, thanks for this piece, i’m blessed by it.
That’s the spirit o, we have to do more in order to enjoy more and live in abundance. God has spoken His word into our lives, the rest is entirely up to us to make it happen.
Welldone.
It all comes down to one thing, goal setting. If you set goals, you will hit your target, if you dont set goals, you will still hit your target of nothing, either way you will be correct. it depends on how you see it.
Can i ask a question here, what you think or how you think, which is more important? Let the juice flow…
Bros,thanks for the timely exhortation.
This is very timely i agree esp as we witness Obama’s inauguration today. What if he stopped along the way?
We may not be able to reach the highest heights if we’re not faithful with our present commitments.
Even when we feel we’ve done more and we don’t have the expected result, it only means we’ve not done enough.
Bless u brother.
Tnx 4 d encouraging mail it has blessed my life
Right time for this definitely, i had spent the last 1hour sulking about new challenges(i called it problems) i was faced with just before close of work. Now i have the right tonic to face this work and more.
Thanks Mr D.
Thanks for speaking into my life again! I have told myself and prayed that when its time to answer God’s call, i will go empty!like a cloth with water that every drop of water has been squeezed out of, i will walk in and hear those words! Thou good and faithful servant…faithful because i have used all He deposited in me to be a blessing and to do his work, We are too loaded to fail! Lets cultivate the spirit of excellence, go the extra mile, talk less and do more and with God, we will achieve our Biggest dreams!
http://www.bridgetelesin.blogspot.com
Thanks once again for that word in due season. that was God Speaking thru you Bro
This is good, i thank God for you and this write up. This write up reminds me so much of the story you told me about passion. One cannot get totally used to such words. I appreciate it all day and am applying and still applying it. God bless you.
Thank you sir….
We are powerful beyond measures..We can do more than we think we can’t. It’s how far we can enlarge our minds to do more…I have a personal testimony in line with your post.
Thanks
Someone has rightly said that the principles to greatness are the principles you applied in the secondary school that made you great academically.
Read more! Pray more! Work more! Study more! Do more! Yeah!
Timely encouragement. God bless you.
Well done Deolu. This is really a blessing and a wake up call to so many people like me. I have had to change direction after some trials but now I would revisit those issues. Remain blessed.
@ Solomon
I believe “how you think” is more important than “what you think”. How you think will eventually determine what you think: if you’re thinking about your successes (what you think), and you’re afraid you might not be able to achieve higher – and you dwell on the “fear” thought (how you think), you’ll eventually lose momentum, and start thinking failure (what you now think).
On the other hand, if you’re thinking about your failures (what you think), and you believe you will rise above your limitations – and you dwell on the “faith” thought (how you think), you’ll eventually gather momentum, and start thinking success (what you now think).
As I said, I believe “how you think” will always determine “what you think”. So, in all – regardless of which is more important – I think they are inseparable.
Deolu, thank you. Your words remind me some quotes:
“I’m a big fan of dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are the first casualty in life – people seem to give them up quicker than anything for a ‘reality’.” – Kevin Costner
“The people who are really failures are the people who set their standards so low, keep the bar at such a safe level, that they never run the risk of failure.” – Robert Schuller
Lastly, this quote is from the last chapter of the book – “The Richest Man in Babylon”:
“Megiddo… talked to me earnestly to impress upon me how valuable work would be to me in the future: “Some men hate it. They make it their enemy. Better to treat it like a friend, make thyself like it. Don’t mind because it is hard. If thou thinkest about what a good house thou build, then who cares if the beams are heavy and it is far from the well to carry the water for the plaster. Promise me, boy, if thou get a master, work for him as hard as thou canst. If he does not appreciate all thou do, never mind. Remember, work, well done, does good to the man who does it. It makes him a better man.”
Thanks alot chairman, another wise one, BACKWARD NEVER BUT FORWARD EVER!!!!!!! this has always been my motto,and i want everyone to take this to heart too.
well said, deolu. let me also say that we often have a “sparing mentality” i.e. a kind of attitude that does something, some things but not ALL things needed to get what we desire and that’s one reason we arrive at a destination unfulfilled. just like deolu said, the good in 2009 will not deliver to us if we don’t do ALL it takes to get what we want. suprisingly, even God counts 99% obedience as disobedience, that why some pple think they are pleasing Him whereas are not.
let’s roll up our sleeves and get ready to strike as many times as possible until we physically and tangibly handle what we seek. of course i would like to add that if in the process, u are getting weary, then wisdom demands that you utilise “tag team” strategy instead of “one-man ” show. the bottom-line at the end is getting what you want without violating another’s right.
Chairman,
In summary, if asked how many more times should i make attempts to achieve the dream; the response is infinity.
Oluyemi Adeosun
nice one dee.its not just enough to try.its not enough to give up just when you are about to reach your goal.its not enough to set goals its not even enough to act on the goals it takes seeing beyond the goal-the reason behind the goal-to keep moving when trails come.this more often than not comes from strong commitment and drive to reach our destination.its the inspiration that comes from within that will propel you.people dont lack potent dreams they lack potent desire.
i’ll keep this close to my heart.lol.
Thanks for this post, it’s really fantastic.
“Never ever ever give up”- Winston Churchhill
in life, there is no stopping, as long as you’re alive you have to keep trying, again & again. About goal setting, its critical for the journey cause life is short and we need to make it wortwhile.
Deolu, Almighty God continue to bless & enrich you. (Amen)
THANX 4REMINDING ME NEVER TO GIVE UP.GOOD INSPIRING PIECE I MUST SAY.THERE IS NO LIMIT.I AM TOO SURE PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS NOT CONSCIOUS OF WHERE HIS FATHER WAS BORN[that small village in Kenya].IF HE HAD CONSIDERED THAT,PROBABLY HE WOULD HAVE BEEN INTIMIDATED AND LOST HEART IN THE PROCESS.I WILL DO MORE………………DEOLU,GOD BLESS U
what you said is very correct because what is worth doing at all is worth doing best.
We can’t stop now! we still have many uncovered/unconquered grounds!!! We have to do moreeeee!!!
there is no limit to what we can achieve in life.no success is too big that one will say i dont want more. to tell the truth, no limit to greatness in life.we shouldnt get too comfortable with where we are. the acheievement we have had in the past etc we should alyas remember that there is a far better place.
Until you summon up courage and take som steps, you won’t actually know how far you could take.Success is just not far away from another couragious trial.
our lifes are like palmtrees; so may departments lying dormant and waiting to be exploited. doing more is key total fufillment.
every part of a palm tree is useful. but few are the measures it is being utilised. the same goes to us, a lot of untapped potentials and yet we cry that things are not working for us. God asked Moses, what is inm your hand? the same question i as k you?